Searching for a Signal
by L. Nevada
Summary: A story which follows three friends and their journey through their Hogwarts years. Conquering the struggles of both schooling and a lack of internet service. Until the group of teens make it available in the school and the search for a signal becomes an adventure all its own. Rated T for now, may change latter if I get bored. R&R to let me know what you think. Enjoy...
1. Boarding the Train

Searching for a Signal

Chapter 1: Boarding the Train

Author's Notes: The Battle of Hogwarts took place in May of 1998. My story will follow nineteen years after the battle and show how Hogwarts has changed since then. The prompt I'm using is from a mix of all the different posts floating around the internet about Wi-Fi and technology being accessible at Hogwarts. Some of the characters I'll be using are original with a few familiar faces here and there. And since the base of my story is centered on the entire sub-culture that is the internet and people online, other fandoms will be mentioned throughout my story. How many references can you find? R&R to let me know what you think.

It has been nineteen years since The Battle of Hogwarts took place on the grounds of the wizarding school. Much of the world has changed since then, including what goes on within the school itself, and many would say it has changed for the better.

After the Dark Lord was defeated it was as if the world hit the reset button. The Muggle world went back to normal and anyone who had any knowledge or firsthand experiences with the events which happened over a span of two years while the battle took place simply choose to forget that any of it had occurred. Those who lost any loved ones grieved for them, but in time were able to forget as easily as those who did not. No one questioned what had happened, they were happier to forget. Anyone with power or influence simply accepted that the mass killings had ceased to happen, which was good enough for them. No explanation was needed, they were just pleased that the unknown no longer needed answers that they could not give to their public.

Much of the Wizarding world fell back into a time and state of peace as well. A majority of the Death Eaters were caught and sent to Azkaban for the rest of their miserable lives. Any who were able to escape the rubble of the battle went into hiding. Many fled the grounds simply in the hopes to die off without any repercussions for their crimes. The grounds of Hogwarts themselves were rebuilt along with the damaged halls within the span of three weeks and those who were lost during the fight were buried with honor. They would forever be remembered for their bravery and that they had protected the walls of the ancient castle. Aside from the natural grieving that took place after the initial battle, the next few years were a time of celebration. Those who had fought were honored and treated as heroes, and the wizarding world was rebuilt to its original state of glory. The Ministry was reclaimed within a week's time and in two years adopted a slightly more democratic outlook on politics. The world seemed to be able to breathe freely once more.

Though the weeks following the battle were filled with equal amounts of celebration and grief, time waits for no man and the world quickly began to rebuild a new. Hogwarts was rebuilt in plenty of time for the new school year. Any teachers that were lost were reluctantly, but easily replaced and schooling continued as usual, but of course with a period of adjustment. Many seventh years who fought in the battle went back to school to finish out their seventh year including Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and Draco, after his pardoning, just to name a few, all of whom graduated and went on to have very successful lives.

Semester after semester, year after year passed and the world seemed to go back to a state of normalcy that it hadn't truly known in decades. Now nineteen years later and we find ourselves in the twenty first century. It's now a new day in age in a never slowing, constantly evolving world and change was happening once again.

XXXXXXXX

Nineteen years later and fall was setting over the beautiful city of London, England. The temperature was slowly beginning to recede, day by day. The new school year was just around the corner and letters would soon be sent out via owls to the soon to be first years in preparation for the new semester starting in just three weeks.

In the weeks leading up to school, Diagon Alley was abuzz with excited preteens and teenagers being led by family members and friends alike as they walked up and down the crowded street gathering their supplies for the new school year. Children would run in and out of stores carrying heavy books, caldrons, parchment paper, and quills. First years, especially muggleborns, would be overwhelmed with joy as they purchased their first wands or their familiars (pets) that would accompany them to school. Groups of friends would wait in line together to try on new robes or wonder down Knockturn Alley to gawk at the strange selection of shops that offered a slightly darker take on magic. Many young witches and wizards would wonder into the famous joke shop that stood at the end of one of the blocks with a large red haired man in a top hat standing proudly in front of the store and not realize the shops significance other than to make a few people laugh, but others knew, and they would enter with a slightly more respectful air about them. Some days the line into Gringotts Wizarding Bank could be seen trailing out the door as wizarding parents would make their deposits while also collecting money for their children that would be able to leave the castle and go to Hogsmeade on the weekends. The Leaky Cauldron knew no better time of year for business than the weeks leading up to school. Every room was booked and they served food around the clock for families who would stay in the inn in the days leading up to sending their children off on the Hogwarts Express.

Three weeks passed and then came the day for the children to be taken to The Hogwarts train station to ride the train to Hogwarts itself. Many would pass through the hidden gate to platform 9 ¾ today to board the magnificent red and black train, including one Miss Jessica Langer.

Jessica is a bright young girl at the age of 11, soon to be 12. She has long, wavy blonde hair that travels down to her waist that she usually keeps over her left shoulder and off her back. She has piercing gray, blue eyes that can see through anyone and her wardrobe consists of mostly black t-shirts and dark or black jeans. She's a very introverted, antisocial girl, even for her young age. She comes from a family of purebloods, which somewhere along the way turned into half-bloods within the last two centuries, all of whom have been placed throughout all four houses of Hogwarts throughout the centuries that her family tree has existed. Jessica's father is mostly of muggle decent, has no magical abilities of his own, and works in an office building for a large business company, while Jessica's mother is mostly of wizard decent, is a witch who attended Hogwarts herself, and works part time at the Ministry. Both make decent pay and are capable of providing for their small family who occupy a large cottage on a few acres of land in the middle of nowhere in the U.K.

On this day, Jessica's mother Apparited her daughter and herself to the train station where they each ran through the invisible gate and approached the train together. After saying their quick 'goodbye's and 'don't forget to write's Jessica boarded the train on her own.

Jessica was going to be a first year which means that this was her first time taking the Hogwarts Express. She was going to ride the train, be placed into a house, be placed into a dormitory, and make new friends in the Wizarding world. This was also the first time in her life that she would be leaving her home and parents for more than a few days. This was also the first time she was going to be surrounded by other wizards, excluding her family members. This was also the first time in Jessica's life where she felt as if she was entirely alone and lost in an unknown world. She knew no one and was terrified of attending school at Hogwarts. Now, Jessica grew up going to public school in London because her parents wanted her to have an education outside of magic. In fact, Jessica planned to take online courses during her summer breaks and go to university after her seventh year. And she was excited to be going to an all wizards' school to take wizard based classes, but this was a completely different situation under entirely different circumstances. She was scared that she would trip while walking up to the sorting hat, she was anxious about getting lost on the way the to her common room and not being able to find her dorm, and she was petrified that she would get lost in the castle while trying to find her classes which would begin in less than three days. But most of all she was nervous about meeting new people and worried that she wouldn't be able to make friends. It wasn't easy for her to make friends and any friends she had at home, who she had just left behind to attend school at Hogwarts and would only be able to see during the summers (if they didn't forget about her) had just become her friends by chance.

With all these thoughts buzzing through her head, Jessica walked through a number of full train cars to reach the last train car sitting on the tracks. If she wasn't so nervous she might have considered asking to join one of the compartments she passed, but all of the car's occupants were already busy chatting away, happy to see each other again after the long summer break or pleased to meet each other and wondering if any of them would be placed into the same house once at school. So instead, she simply continued to pass silently through each noisy train car.

Moving down the long aisle wearing a small carryon which held two fully charged portable chargers, a blanket from home, a large book, and a robe to wear to the feast over her shoulder and carrying a small animal carrier in her left hand, Jessica walked all the way to the back of the train. Once she was as far as the train would allow her to go she sighed and looked inside the last two remaining compartments of the final car. Surprisingly, but thankfully, both cars were empty, so she choose the one to the right and carefully stepped inside. Setting down her bag and the cage she carried on the bench to her right, she closed the door as quickly and quietly as she could, then went to look outside the window. Over the ocean of people who were lined along the outside of the train to say goodbye to their children who were already on board, Jessica was able to see her only slightly taller mother against the back wall of the train station, smiling up at her daughter on her first train to school.

Not a moment after she saw her mother, Jessica's phone vibrated against her leg in her right front pocket. A message appeared on her phone's small screen, reading:

 _Go easy on your phone_

Jessica swiftly typed back a short reply and, knowing exactly what her mother had been referring to, proceeded to turn her phone off immediately after the message was sent. She might have been holding it in her hand, but as Jessica looked down at the black screen she began to miss the warmth of her phone. Without electricity to charge her phone while at school, she was going to have to save her battery life. She only had the percentage that was currently on her phone and the two phone chargers, if they were going to work, in her bag to get her through the next few months of school before winter break. Not that it mattered, she'd only be able to use her phone at night and on the weekends. And there was, of course, no Wi-Fi or even signal at the school, so she'd only be able to play downloaded games or listen to her music. But even this would have been enough technology to soften the blow of having her internet access completely stripped from her, except her phone would only be able to continue working for a few weeks, if she was careful. Jessica knew she'd begin feeling withdrawal symptoms before she even entered the school.

Looking up from her darkened mobile she saw her mother's familiar, smiling face one last time before her mother Apparited out of the station, needing to get to work by 9 o'clock and not wanting to linger until the train left the station.

There was no need of course for her mother to wait around anyway, what was the point?

Jessica had insisted she be dropped off at the station in time to find a compartment to sit in and because her mother had to go to work she had agreed to get her there thirty minutes early. As far as Jessica could tell, children were still filing onto the bus and would likely continue to do so until the train began to pull out of the station. With twenty minutes to spare, Jessica could only hope that no one else would join her compartment and if someone were to do so, it wouldn't be as awkward or embarrassing as she was expecting it to be.

Jessica sighed again, maneuvering her hair behind her back, and sat down on the bench across from the one that held her belongings. Looking across the compartment, she leaned forward and hid her phone safely in the bottom of her carryon. She then twisted the cage around on the bench so that the silver-barred door was facing her and she could look in at her recently purchased familiar (or a wizard's personal animal and closely kept companion often used as a means of work). Her mother had given it to her as an early birthday gift since she wouldn't be home for her actual birthday in a few months and had decided that she could use a companion while away at school.

"Hello," she whispered softly, so as not to disturb the sleeping mass of gold and white if it didn't want to be awakened. She hadn't had time to fully admire her new pet since he had been purchased from the pet shop in Diagon Alley earlier that morning, since she had been too concerned with herself getting on the train before it left her in London.

Nonetheless, the small ball of soft spikes not yet hardened by age uncurled to reveal that the creature had been napping on its back with its face hidden from any light that would be able to pass through its cage. Rolling over to land on its little feet the small face looked through the bars to meet Jessica's gaze. After a moment of assessing, the creature walked out of the shadowed corner of its carrier to reveal itself as a baby hedgehog and stick its paw through the bars, still looking up at the girl in front of him. Like many rules that had been revised or done away with entirely, the rule of what animals children were allowed to bring with them into the castle was also revised. Aside from owls, rats, and toads, the list grew to three times its original size and strictly speaking now allowed children to bring with them dogs, cats, small rodents, and birds in general. As long as the animal was contained by the student who owned it, other than birds who were kept and cared for in the owl sanctuary to be used for post for the students, and didn't bother anyone or break anything in the castle, any animal smaller than the average sized trunk that students brought with them was allowed in without much complaint. On the list or not.

Jessica's mother had taken her to one of the many pet shops seated on Diagon Alley and had told her to pick any animal she liked. Jessica had always been fascinated with animals and dreamed of becoming a veterinarian when she grew up, though for which world she hadn't quite decided yet. Because her parents owned two owls for post she wouldn't need her own to keep in touch with her family. She also wanted something different, something not everyone else in the school would own. This is how Jessica found herself picking up a lonely looking hedgehog sitting by itself in a glass container, staring her directly in the eyes, and seemed to be asking to be taken home. At the time the small animal had reminded Jessica of herself and she decided the nocturnal mammal would make a good companion. The attendant at the counter had assured her that it was a two month old male hedgehog, but not just an ordinary hedgehog, of course, but one breed by the use of magic. It was smarter than the average dog and would be able to be trained as well as one. The hedgehog was a baby now but within the next couple of months it would be fully grown and if well feed it would weigh close to 100 pounds and be slightly larger than a medium sized dog. It would be able to carry 40 pounds on its back and run up to 35 miles an hour, even on its short legs. Its spikes would hardened over time and could be used for protection and its claws would grow to be between 1-2 inches long which was perfect for burrowing. Jessica's mother had winced slightly at the description of the grown animal, but proceeded to pay for it all the same, as well as for its carrier and six months' worth of food.

Now Jessica was face to face with her new friend and the animal was asking politely to be let out of its cage. Deciding that no one else was going to join her in the compartment since the train was scheduled to take off within ten minutes she double checked that the door to her compartment was firmly closed and then opened the latch on the blue carrier.

The hedgehog had backed up a step for the door to be unlocked, then proceeded to nudge the door open with its small, brown nose. Stepping out of the cage, he rubbed against Jessica's still outstretched hand and allowed her to pick him up. Holding him easily in two hands close to her chest she whispered to him again, "Hello," and received a small squeak in greeting. Laughing lightly at the response from her familiar, she pecked him lightly on the head and watched him twitch his nose as a response. Leaning forward, Jessica pulled her book from her bag, then sat with her back against the window. She put the hedgehog down in her lap and expected him to start crawling around the compartment. Instead, the small mammal climbed up her shirt and snuggled against her neck, then shortly after resumed his nap with lying across her left shoulder. Shocked that the creature had taken to her so quickly, she smiled openly, and proceeded to open her book to where she had left off.

Not ten minutes later and the train's whistle sounded loudly, far ahead of the car that Jessica was seated in. Without looking up and hardly noticing the whistle itself, she concluded that the train would begin to leave and her solitary 10 hour train ride to the school would begin.

But not a moment after the train began to pull away from the station and the silence was broken by a single, short, sharp knock on the compartment window.


	2. New Faces

Chapter 2: New Faces

Startled by the abrupt noise that broke the silence of her compartment, Jessica looked up from her book and was met by a blond headed figure standing just outside her doorway.

The door was opened by a small, pale hand and pulled aside to reveal a young boy. The stranger is obviously a first year and is about the same height as Jessica. He has short, neatly combed hair, and cold, gray eyes. He is carrying a small brown shoulder bag over his right shoulder and a large three foot tall cage with a black silk cloth concealing what it holds inside.

In a clear, polite, almost practiced voice, the stranger asked, "Excuse me. Do you mind if I join you? All of the other compartments are full."

Finding her voice quickly, Jessica was able to answer just as clearly and easily with, "Have it mate," as she nodded towards the bench opposite herself. Somehow she was able to make her reply sound more like a genuine, kind welcome compared to the reluctant answer she truly wanted to give.

"Thank you," the boy replied simply, quietly, and stepped inside the compartment to close the door behind himself. Then he sat down on the bench indicated and placed his carryon between himself and Jessica's belongings. His cage rested in between his slightly spread feet and he relaxed back into the soft padding of the bench.

Several minutes passed in mute silence. Jessica continued to read, turning a page as she did, while the young boy looked around the compartment. He looked as if he was trying to think of something to say to fill the loud silence that surrounded the space surrounding the two bodies in the room.

After a moment of searching, the stranger's eyes finally landed on a golden-brown furred body peering at him with small dark brown eyes from across the compartment atop of the girl's shoulder. "Hello, and who are you," the stranger asked gently, sounding more relaxed than when he had been speaking to Jessica.

Jessica looked down to her left shoulder to discover that her familiar had awoken when the stranger had walked in and was now staring him down from across the room.

The stranger scooted forward slightly in his seat and leaned across the compartment to offer his hand to the small animal. But as soon as he neared Jessica's space the hedgehog sat straight up on her shoulder and growled in the general direction of the out stretched hand. It was a very quiet sound, but the mammal was vibrating with the force he was using to make his voice and discomfort at the situation known.

"He's very protective of you," the boy realized as his withdrew his hand and sat back against his seat once more. Then, as a means of making conversation, the stranger asked, "What's his name?"

Jessica looked down at the small ball of courage to see that he was watching the boy's every move, every word he said, trying to decide if he was a threat to the girl who owned him or not. Jessica only had to think for a short moment before she turned to the boy sitting in front of her and replied with an amused smile, "Bilbo."

"That's a very handsome name," the boy commented nodding at the territorial creature in front of him, then readdressing Jessica, "He's still very small, must be young. When did you get him?"

"He was an early birthday gift from my mother. We purchased him before I came to the station today. My mother figured a familiar would make a good companion for me until I met anyone at school. He's only two months old."

"Mine was a gift from my father this summer," the boy said as he tapped the cage between his legs affectionately. "I'm surprised by how well yours has taken to you. Renee would hardly look at me the first week she was brought home."

"May I see her?" Jessica asked curiously, though she was expecting an immediate rejection.

"Oh, of course," the stranger replied, smiling, as he lifted a side of the silk cloth to reveal a beautiful red and orange feathered bird standing two feet tall in its large cage. Its eyes are closed and its breathing softly, unaware it is being observed. "My father said she regenerated a year before he purchased her, so she's still young. She won't have to regenerate for another 14 years."

"15 years between each regeneration, that's amazing. She's beautiful," Jessica complimented, gazing at the smooth feathers of the sleeping mythical avian.

"Thank you, on her behalf," then, dropping the cover from his hand, he looked back to Jessica and asked, "And who might you be?"

"Jessica Langer. And you?"

"Scorpius Malfoy. Pleasure," the boy responded as he offered his right hand again, this time leaving distance between them as not to offend the mammal still watching over the conversation.

Jessica obliged and their hands met in the middle of the small room for a few seconds. Bilbo tried to show his wariness of the exchange, but Jessica shushed him all the same. The mammal huffed a bit, almost as a sigh, and lied back down across Jessica's shoulder to resume his nap while their conversation continued.

"Malfoy. Where have I heard that name before?"

The boy became shy as he answered, "We're a family of purebloods. One of the last Pureblood families, actually. Many of my family members are known for having been Death Eaters. They all fought in the war nineteen years ago. All except for my father. He was supposed to fight with my grandparents, but when it mattered none of them wanted to fight under Voldemort. My father was able to put down several Death Eaters before he safely escaped with my grandparents. Both my father and grandmother were pardoned, but my grandfather was later arrested and sent off to Azkaban shortly after the war." There was a short pause in his explanation and when Scorpius continued his mood shifted slightly and his voice grew stronger as he stated, "Good riddance. He only left the battle to save his own life. It wasn't to save his wife and son, not because it was the right choice. He left because he couldn't fight, because he was scared. He was a bloody traitor, a coward, and a fool. My father is as much of a hero as anyone else who fought at the castle that day. If it wasn't for my father, my grandmother would have died and with the number of Death Eaters my father eliminated the number of casualties could have been higher that day."

"What does your father do now?"

Scorpius huffed an amused laugh before responding, "My father now works as a healer. He still feels guilty for what he did during the war, not that he did much to begin with. Still, its honest work. He helps people, when he can. He has a family, a house, a job. He's happy now. Far happier than he was in his earlier years of life."

"You should be proud of your father. In the end, when it mattered, he went against his family and did what was right. He was able to help those who fought and protected his mother. That's what's important," Jessica commented, not quite sure how to respond to such a personal story, so she decided to respond with a form of a compliment.

"Unbelievably proud. He's my father after all," Scorpius stated, grinning with pride. "What about your parents? Did they fight in the war?"

"My parents met out of school. My father is a muggle and my mother is a witch. They were dating during the last three years leading up to the war. As the war went on my father went into hiding with the rest of my family, while my mother continued to work inside the ministry. No one ever paid her any attention, honestly they still don't. So she was able to pass limited information to the rebellion from the inside. She was also able to hide several families while the war was taking place. Everyone in my family, excluding my mother, were safe in hiding and they did what little they could to help those who would pass them. But no. No one in my family fought in the final battle."

"Still, that's amazing what your mother did. There's no telling how many people she saved. She did as much good as anyone who fought in the war. You should be proud as well," Scorpius stated in awe.

"I am. My mother still works in the ministry after all these years and she helps as much as she can."

All conversation died after the exchange of their families' history. The two sat in near silence, listening to the soft sound of the train running over tracks that could be heard from inside. For a few minutes the two sat in the comfort of each other's presence. Jessica continued to read her book that remained open in her lap and Scorpius turned in his seat to lean against the wall, watching as the scenery passed by the large window in front of him.

They sat like this for twenty minutes. The train had left the station just over an hour ago and the two children were settling in for the remaining hours of their travel when suddenly the compartment door slide open once again. Once the door was standing open in walked a dark, solid black cat, with long, almost shaggy and thick fur, no smaller than a German Shepard.

The cat took a few steps inside the compartment and sat in the middle of the floor between the two benches with its excessively long tail wrapped around its body. It stared up at the two wizards parallel on either side of him with large, deep, rich golden eyes.

Out of nowhere the cat opened its mouth and projected a loud meow with a voice much deeper than most cats could produce. Not five seconds after the animal spoke and it was answered by a far less deep, imitational meow in response, and a lanky, pale boy with long, shaggy, jet black hair that seemed to resemble the cat's own looked into the compartment. He's a full inch taller than either Jessica or Scorpius and he has crystal clear blue eyes. When the boy looked into the compartment he was met with his feline's back sitting squarely in the middle of the floor and two strangers' puzzled expressions staring back at him.

"Excuse me," the raven haired stranger began in a far less practiced or careful voice than when Scorpius had entered the compartment, "I was sitting with my older brother when we left the train station, but his friends kicked me out after a while because they were bothered by my familiar after too long. Do you mind if we join you, everywhere else seems to be full?"

Jessica and Scorpius made eye contact across the compartment for a short moment before Scorpius invited the stranger inside. Closing the sliding door behind him, the stranger sat down on the end of Jessica's bench and motioned towards his familiar, signaling the cat to join him.

The cat in the center of the room however paid no mind to its owner. After scanning the small room the mammal's eyes landed on the small rodent lazing on the girl's shoulder. It had its eyes locked on the creature trying to decide whether to take it as a prize or not and was only pulled from its thought's when his human companion called to him verbally, a sign that the nocturnal mammal was not a choice in food.

The feline proceeded to stand from its position on the floor and stepped up into the boy's lap, an easy task for the over grown kitten. Once lying down, the cat's body rested on the bench and ended with its head resting on the boy's chest, taking up most of its' owner's body by doing so.

After the two were settled, the raven haired boy spoke to the two wizards still gazing at him questioningly. "Thank you for letting us join you. I was worried we would have to sit in the aisle for the rest of the trip. This is Fang and I'm Charlie Lester."

"Scorpius Malfoy," and the two boys leaned in front of the compartment door to shake hands in the middle.

"Jessica Langer."

"Please to meet you," and they also shook hands in greeting.

"I'm surprised your familiar didn't react more hostile towards us. Jessica's little demon growled at me for trying to introduce myself," Scorpius commented, trying once again to start a conversation to fill the space in the small compartment, now even smaller with the addition of two more occupants.

"Fang is actually very protective of me. He was looking for the least compacted compartment and wanted to get a read on anyone within it before I came in. We walked through half of the train because everywhere else is full. Fang ran all the way through this last car to open this door and let himself in," Charlie explained, pointing to the door behind him as he did and continued to say, "Fang has a gift for being able to read people. He must trust the two of you to an extent. At least enough to not hurt me between here and the school."

"Well, I'm simply flattered," Jessica commented, looking at the back of the black cat's head.

Looking down, Charlie realized that his companion had fallen asleep and rubbed his head fondly, whispering 'lazy' into the feline's ear.

"He's beautiful," Scorpius commented, "How long have you had him?"

"Oh, he's almost two years now. I purchased him as a kitten when he was only a few weeks old. He's my best friend," Charlie responded while stroking the cat's back fondly. Then he asked in return, "Do you have a familiar of your own?"

Scorpius replied by lifting the black cover off the cage once more to reveal the still soundly sleeping bird.

"Bloody hell, is that a phoenix?"

"Yes, her name is Renee. It's French for 'reborn'," Scorpius responded, smiling proudly once more.

"Amazing," Charlie replied as he watched the cover fall over the cage again. Then he turned to face Jessica and asked, "And who's the little ball of trouble?"

"This is Bilbo," Jessica answered, patting the animal's head affectionately which woke him once again.

Bilbo yawned and looked around the compartment, trying to wake himself up. Then his eyes landed on the second boy with a large cat lying across his figure and he began to growl again.

"Hey, easy. They aren't going to hurt us," Jessica whispered, trying to sooth her distressed companion.

Seeming to trust his owners calming voice, the creature on Jessica's shoulder ceased its growling, but continued to watch over the other bodies in the room.

"He's cute. He'll grow into a fine companion," Charlie complemented.

"I have no doubt," the young witch replied as she lightly scratched under the small mammals chin to sooth him further.

There was a beat of silence when Charlie noticed Jessica's t-shirt and decided to comment, "I love your shirt."

Jessica looked down at the blue orb on her shirt to remind herself what she was wearing that day, then replied, "oh, thank you," assuming the young wizard simply liked the design and had no idea what the symbol was or where it came from.

Scorpius asked curiously, "What is it," referring to the unknown sphere with a mock glow seated on Jessica's chest.

"Oh it's, just a thing," Jessica explained lamely. She had no idea how to explain a piece of technology that was created in a fictional world and set in a movie to someone from the wizarding world who has never seen technology and would have no idea what a movie is. Trying to explain further, and failing, Jessica continued to say, "It's a symbol from the Muggle world, but to put it simply it's really just a flashing circle."

"It's not just a circle. It's a symbol of hope," Charlie stated with his head held high trying to show a sense of self-importance to imitate the man who normally wore the blue sphere. Then he relaxed, but continued to smile as he tried to further explain the picture. "Or, a piece of technology invented by a very important man in a popular Muggle movie."

Jessica smiled widely at the recognition, "a very important piece of technology. A piece of technology I'm surprised anyone going to Hogwarts besides myself would have any knowledge of."

"Well, I'm familiar with that circle," Charlie said, pointing towards the picture, "for the same reason I know who you named your familiar after. I'm Muggle born and grew up with both Tolkien's stories and Marvel comics and movies. I actually have my own Marvel shirt packed away in my trunk. I was saving any of my Fandom shirts to wear on the weekends."

"That's awesome," Jessica gushed, amazed to have found someone who had equal knowledge to herself about a large portion of her life, cinema. "I'm actually amazed that you just used the term 'Fandom'."

"What, why? It's because I'm a male isn't it," Charlie teased with mock offense. "Have you never met an actual fanboy?"

"Never, there are only ever traces and whispers of them online. I honestly believed you were a myth," Jessica teased back.

The two nerds shared a genuine and relaxed laugh while Scorpius intervened their conversation, "What the hell are you two waffling on about?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. It must sound as if we're speaking another language," Jessica replied with an apologetic smile. Scorpius nodded and waited for an explanation of the conversation that had just taken place.

The two Muggle borns spent the next few minutes trying to explain the idea of movies and internet to the boy who had never experienced even basic technology.

After almost no progress was made, Scorpius finally said, "Well whatever all of it is, you two seem to be infatuated by it."

"More than that. It's a large part of my childhood and I believe it will stay with me for the rest of my life," Charlie stated, wholeheartedly, referring to both internet and film.

"As it is mine," Jessica agreed solemnly.

"Honestly, I'd demonstrate what it is if I didn't want my phone to die sooner than it already will," Charlie stated as his hand unconsciously ran across the cell sitting in his left front pocket to reassure himself that it was still with him before he relaxed back into his seat once more.

"Oh, I know. I don't know how I'm going to go 3-4 months without a signal," Jessica signed.

"No, but do you know what I did? I actually forgot to charge my phone last night. My cell's already down to 60%," Charlie explained, talking with his hands out in front of him and around his familiar the whole time, exasperatedly. "I only have one portable charger with me. My phone won't last a week. I might actually die!"

"I was actually wondering when I would start going through withdrawal symptoms myself before either of you joined me," Jessica remembered, only half joking while half falling into a small depression as she took a moment to herself to look down at the floor.

Silence fell over the compartment once more. Jessica took the time between conversations to reach into her carryon and pulled out her own cell phone, turning it on to check the time. By now, the train had been moving at a constant pass for almost three hours. After a moment's thought, Jessica replaced her once again, after powering off the mobile, and decided she would take a turn in beginning the conversation.

Trying to sound as normal as possible, the shy girl asked the compartment aloud, "So, we've about seven hours left. Are we excited to get to school?"

"Oh, definitely," Charlie spoke up instantly as the conversation began anew, "I can't wait to be placed into a house."

"Neither can I," Jessica agreed simply.

"Surely you both know where you'll be placed," Scorpius intercepted. "By, if nothing else, where your family has been placed before you."

"My family has been placed in all four houses, so your guess is as good as mine," Jessica explained.

"My brother and I are the first wizards in four generations. I have no way of knowing other than my brother is in the House of Slytherin," Charlie also explained.

"I'm almost certain we'll all be placed in Slytherin," Scorpius commented, giving his personal opinion.

"How could you possible judge that," Jessica asked, curious about the logic behind such a weighted claim.

"Well, my entire family has been placed in Slytherin. And you two seem ambitious and fairly intelligent. It's simply an educated guess," Scorpius stated, smirking slightly.

"I'm not sure whether I should be offended or flattered," Jessica mused.

"Well I meant it as a compliment," Scorpius replied continuing to smile at the girl across from him.

Conversation died between the new acquaintances once again and, because there wasn't much more to talk about without a prompt, the three sat in a comfortable silence for about an hour. Jessica focused her attention back to her book and Bilbo soon fell back asleep. Charlie joined his own familiar and let his head rest against the feline's own as he went to sleep as well. Scorpius on the other hand focused his attention back to the large window, sitting with his right leg bent up on the bench as he rested his right arm atop it, left to wander in his thoughts. After an hour, the food trolley came down the aisle of the train. Each child bought their own chocolate frog and Charlie bought a package of BB's every flavored beans that only he was brave enough to taste. For the remainder of the journey to Hogwarts, the three young students ate their purchased sweets and continued to go between spurts of conversations and comfortable periods of silence.

Then, after a long and mostly uneventful ride, the train finally arrived at Hogsmeade Station. And though they were happy as the train finally began to pull into the station at a slow pace, the three new friends began to feel a rising sense of anxiety settle into each of their stomachs.


	3. A New Beginning

Chapter 3: A New Beginning

The Hogwarts Express pulled into the train station on schedule at seven o'clock in the evening. As it pulled into the station the whistle sounded at the front end of the train to signal its arrival. Once the students slipped into their school cloaks, which are only required during class and formal feasts, they began to file off the train slowly and awaited further instructions on where they were to go. Once outside, the students were instructed to locate their trunks and leave all of their personal belongings (including familiars) at the train and they were assured that their items would all be moved to their dormitories while the feast was taking place.

Nervous about leaving their belongings and familiars unguarded, Jessica, Scorpius, and Charlie decided it would be safer if they left their possessions together and kept slightly separated from other student's belongings.

As the students busied themselves with sorting their possessions, an excessively large man at least eight feet tall with long, tangled back hair and a beard to match who was suited in a raged old trench coat approached the red and black train. As he approached, he spoke with a loud, booming voice that projected itself from one end of the train to the other for all the students to hear. His message was short and delivered with a thick West Country accent, "First 'ears please follow me to the boats. E'eryone else 'ead to the coaches to be taken directly to the castle."

Hearing the message, Jessica, Scorpius, and Charlie shared a look then proceeded to follow after the rest of the first years, moving towards the front of the train, and followed the large man to the mentioned boats to be taken to the castle.

The first years were taken to the edge of the Hogwarts Lake which is positioned in the front and slightly to the right of the school. They were told to board the boats floating freely from the dock where they were ported. Stepping carefully into one of the gently rocking vessels, Jessica, Scorpius, and Charlie sat at the front of the small, old wooden boat they had chosen, sitting on the top of the dark water with a glowing lantern mounted to the front. The lanterns were the only source of light at the small docks, aside from the stars that had just begun to shine high in the clear night sky as the sun set behind the castle. Soon the three wizards were joined by two other small witches, but none of the children bother with introductions. They simply sat in silence as they waited for the rest of the boats to be filled with the other students in their year. Once all the boats were filled, the man acting as their escort clambered into his own boat and as soon as he was firmly seated his boat began to float away from the dock on its own accord. As he floated further and further from the shore, other boats began to follow the escorts' vessel without the assistance of rowers.

The boats were under an enchantment which is how they were able to move without the assistance of a director and they each seemed to know which direction they were meant to go in. Drifting steadily across the water, the three friends focused their attention on the majestic castle standing tall over the grounds of the school.

Jessica, Scorpius, and Charlie sat at the front of their boat and they noticed that the castle became larger as the boats neared it. It was a dark, clear night and the moon was shining brightly over the castle. While admiring the beautiful scenery presented in front of them, Jessica whispered softly to address her companions sitting quietly beside her. "Is anyone else just slightly nervous?"

"Terrified," came a quiet reply from Scorpius, who was sitting slightly behind and between his two companions, "just keep your head held high and act as if you know exactly what you are doing. Do not show fear," Scorpius continued to whisper, raising his chin towards the castle as he spoke.

Jessica and Charlie looked to Scorpius as he spoke then and Jessica smiled shyly. "How do you think I've gotten this far?" Then Jessica faced the front of the boat again, now with her face at a slight incline that would have gone unnoticed to everyone but Scorpius and Charlie. Charlie stayed silent, but followed her lead and tilted his head back ever so slightly as well. They would soon enter the school and no matter how nervous the three children were, they would not back down from the challenges to come, and they would enter the castle together.

The boat ride lasted no more than twenty minutes, then the boats came to a sudden, but even halt on their own, mere inches from the docks. The first years stepped carefully out of their vessels and followed their escort to the castle's entrance. Once inside, they were lead through a side corridor and traveled for about three minutes before they came to a stop on a stair case and told to wait for further instructions. Then the man disappeared, continuing past the end of the stair case and went into a room which connected to the Great Hall, without another word and the students were left alone, standing in front of the main entrance to the Great Hall on a flight of stairs. Five minutes passed in mute silence. Jessica, Scorpius, and Charlie decided to stay near the back of the huddled group on the last flight of stairs and, once inside, they stood together and leaned their backs against the cool stone railing. Five minutes later and a middle aged man of average height with neatly combed dark brown hair exited from the same door their escort had entered and stepped into the corridor in front of the new students.

"Now, can everyone hear me," the man asked, looking down the short flight of stairs to the students in the back of the jumbled line to make sure that everyone could hear him. After receiving no response, the man assumed he had his answer and continued to speak in a gentle, friendly tone, "Good. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Professor Longbottom. I teach Herbology and I am head of Gryffindor House. I hope to get to know many of you while you attend this beautiful school. But for now, you will all follow me through the large doors behind me. We will walk to the end of the Great Hall and stop in front on the Sorting Hat. After the school song is performed and the Sorting Hat sings, I will call each of your names, one by one, and you will step up to the Sorting Hat to be sorted into one of the four school houses. For the rest of your time here, you will live with your fellow house mates. You will eat at the same table. You will share a common room and dormitories. You will have classes with those in your house, as well as with other houses depending on your schedule. While you are here you are to treat those in your house like your family. Achievements shall earn your house points. Any rule breaking and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points earned during the year will receive the house cup. Any questions?"

The professor paused for a minute or two to allow for the information to sink in. He smiled as he looked to the young students standing on the stairs making eye contact with anyone who would allow him to, trying to offer comfort and encouragement to those who seemed nervous in the new environment. While there was a pause in the teacher's speech Scorpius leaned forward, turning his face to address the two bodies standing beside him, and explained quietly, "That's Neville Longbottom. He fought in the war here all those years ago and is said to have destroyed one of the horcuxes. Now he's a teacher, was recently promoted to Deputy Head Master of the school, and lives with his wife in Hogsmeade." Jessica nodded in reply and faced the professor again. She said nothing aloud, but after hearing the man's story she decided that she immediately liked the teacher standing in front of her.

"Very well. Now that that's over with, if you will all follow me into the Great Hall. The sooner this is done the sooner we will get to eat, yes? I'm sure you all have no interest in hearing me speak and there's still more talking to come," Professor Longbottom smiled warmly again. Many students smiled back at the professor, deciding like Jessica that they liked him as well. And with that, the Professor turned around to approach the doors he had been indicating and pushed open the double doors leading into the dining hall.

The large brown wooden doors swung open to their full extent to reveal an immensely large and dazzling dining room. In the room there is four long tables sitting vertically from the door, stretching across the length of the room lined with students from each house sitting on benches. At the back of the room there is another table sitting horizontally, facing the student tables and it was lined with the professors. In the center of the table sat the Head of the school, Headmistress McGonagall, who took the position immediately following the end of the war. She watched as the new students entered the dining room behind Professor Longbottm and smiled down welcomingly at the new arrivals.

Longbottom entered the magical dining room with roughly 200 students filing in after him. As he entered, the room erupted with the loud roar of applause as a welcome to the new students who would be joining the school this year. Crossing the length of the room with confident strides, Longbottom stepped up a small number of stairs and took his place beside the Sorting Hat that was currently lying across an old brown stool. The students came to a sudden stand still in front of the Sorting Hat which was positioned in front of the professor's dining table. As the first years came to a stop, the rest of the students in the dining hall stood from their seats at their house tables and began to sing the school song, as was tradition for the start and end of the year feasts. Any first years who knew the song joined with the rest of the student body. Jessica, Charlie, and Scorpius remained silent throughout the short performance. Whether they knew the song themselves or not, they stayed quiet and continued to look towards the front of the room. They refused to look towards the student tables as they walked into the room and they now stood before the sorting hat staring it head on. All three looking calm, almost bored as they entered, but inside they were each shaking with anticipation and something a kin to fear.

Jessica was now standing in front of Charlie and Scorpius. Charlie took time near the end of the song to lean forward and whisper between the three of them, loud enough for only his two new companions to hear, "Did I mention I have self-diagnosed social anxiety?"

"No I believe you failed to mention that little detail. I would never have guessed it myself. You approached us after all," Scorpius replied, smirking back kindly, encouragingly. Of course Charlie had meant it as a joke, but there was truth behind it nonetheless. Charlie may have approached Scorpius and Jessica's compartment, but he was just as socially awkward as Scorpius usually felt and Jessica often proved to be. The truth behind each of them was that though they may put on a bored, blank expression in a large crowd and were able to approach those around them when the situation called for them to, they were all shy and quiet children.

Soon after Scorpius and Charlie's short exchange, the school song ended and Professor Longbottom picked the Sorting Hat up off the stool, pulled a large piece of parchment from it, and placed it on the stool once more, now sitting straight up on its own.

Once the hat was placed on the stool it became animated and stood proudly on its seat, gazing around the Great Hall for a brief moment before its hollow cloth eyes landed on the first year students before him. At once the living hat began to sing. A calmer, more collected melody then when the school had been singing as a whole. It sang its purpose, placing students into their designated house where each would be most likely to succeed while in school. And just as quickly as the song had begun, it was over and the hat became still again.

Now Longbottom unrolled the parchment in his hand and began to call students names aloud. One by one a student would walk up the stairs and sit on the stool as the professor placed the hat on their head. Each time the hat was placed on a student, whether it sat atop their head for three seconds or three minutes in contemplation, the hat would shout crisply and clearly one of the four houses and the entire table that the particular house was designated to sit at would erupt in loud applause, often accompanied by joyous laughter or other sounds of encouragement as the house would happily welcome a new member to join in their house. The other houses would clap politely as they waited for the next student to be assigned.

Six names down the list and Professor Longbottom waited for the excitement of the students to recede once more before calling louder than the man seemed to be naturally comfortable with, "Charlie Lester."

Scorpius patted Charlie on the back to help move the young boy forward and both Jessica and Scorpius gave him encouraging smiles as he pushed his way through the crowd and jogged quickly up the stairs.

All eyes in the room were on the raven-haired boy as he gingerly sat on the stool and awaited the hat to be placed above him. Charlie remained neutral as the Sorting Hat took close to two minutes of silent processing, before proclaiming loudly, "Slytherin!" The call was short and articulate and Charlie sighed with relief that his moment in the spot light was over. He didn't care where he was placed as long as the people he was lucky enough to meet and get on with almost immediately would follow shortly behind him. As he stepped down the stairs he glanced above the sea of students and nodded towards the two blondes standing in the far back of the crowd before he took his seat at the front end of the Slytherin table. Before choosing a seat, the students closest to him shook his hand or patted him on the back and gestured for him to join them. He noticed those closest to him where older by several years, so he politely declined, thanked them for his welcome, and sat on the very edge of the table on a hard brown bench, looking on with the rest of the school as the remaining first years were sorted.

Twenty minutes passed and about thirty students had already been sorted. Jessica was just beginning to fidget where she stood when Longbottom called her name over the dying noise of the crowd. She walked calmly through the crowd of students, mumbling apologies under her breath as she gently pushed her way through. Trying not to stumble up the steps she took a calming breath and turned to face the enormous crowd as she clumsily rested on the seat behind her. Time seemed to slow for Jessica as she quickly scanned the hall in front of her. As the hat was being placed on her head, she was able to pick out both of her new acquaintances in the mob of students ahead of her. She noticed that the end of each student table closest to her was bare, waiting to be filled with first years, except for the Slytherin table where Charlie could been seen sitting alone as he waited for Jessica to be placed. She used her eyes to look past the brim of the Sorting Hat and gazed towards the ceiling of the Great Hall. Candles were alight and hovering peacefully over the dining tables that took up a large portion of the room which seemed to be much bigger than the length of a football field. Above the candles was almost complete darkness, randomly sprinkled with tiny individually glowing lights and a large glowing circle which seemed to stand out excessively from the other smaller shapes was at the farthest end of the hall from Jessica. It didn't take much thought for Jessica to realize that the ceiling above her was a reflection of the current night sky outside the castle at this very moment. For the remainder of her time in front of the massive audience, Jessica looked to the stars shinning over her and she realized in this moment that this was now her life.

Of course Jessica was no stranger to the use of magic. Her mother often used magic at home to help her cook or clean, as did many of her relatives. It was of course how many of them grew up, surrounded by the use of magic. When Jessica had first started showing signs that she had her own magical abilities at an early age of three, her mother was ecstatic. Two years later and her mother began to teach her simple spells. Just one or two at first, spending weeks to perfect them before her mother would begin to teach her another spell. It should be mentioned that the rule regarding under aged use of magic was revised shortly after the war. When under the presence of a legal guardian an under aged wizard or witch is allowed to practice magic. This insured that students would be prepared ahead of schedule to begin studying in school and the parents are involved in their child's education. But of course, basic spells and technics are still offered as a class. But it was during her Sorting Ceremony that it dawned on Jessica that for the next seven years she would be in the magical building, surrounded by these people that she was somehow lucky enough to meet. She would be learning to be able to do what her mother has done for a majority of her own life, things that Jessica has yet to be taught. Looking to the clear, dark, magically formed night sky, Jessica found comfort and was able to relax as the hat scanned her mind and decided where to place the young girl presented to him.

While the hat was over her, Jessica could feel the Sorting Hat moving above her. She could feel every flex of his cloth which she assumed to the hat was similar to his muscles and every breathe he took above her. The object sitting atop her head was more than an object but in fact a living being, to an extent. Every once in a while Jessica could even hear the hat's thoughts, but she didn't pay much attention to what it had to say about her. Mostly she heard murmuring, so there was no use in straining to hear the hat's internal conversation, but she was able to hear that the Sorting Hat was trying to decide between two houses that Jessica could possibly belong in.

The hat remained over her head for a total of four minutes. Since the end of the war the Sorting Hat had begun to take longer when sorting a larger number of children with each new generation. Of course some students were placed quickly within the first few seconds of the hat being placed atop their head, but most of these students usually came from a family line that continued to be placed in the same house with each generation. But with each passing generation it became more and more common that the hat would take more time when deciding where to place the students presented to him. Though it was still rare that the deciding time would exceed five minutes.

Finally after four long minutes of utter silence, having to decide between Ravenclaw and Slytherin, the hat stated loudly that his decision was clear and would stand to be, "Slytherin!" Jessica would never know what her second choice in house placement had been. She would also never know that her intelligence and the observations she made while the Sorting Hat rested on her were key factors in the delay of her placement. But because of her ambitions and her personal desire to be placed into the house the hat decided to place her in Slytherin.

Jessica had kept an expressionless face during her sorting, but sighed with relief and visibly relaxed as the hat was taken from her head and she slipped off the stool with ease to walk down the short flight of steps. The Slytherin table exploded with a noise of triumph once more with the addition of another arrival. As she walked, she looked to her right at Professor Longbottom who smiled at her in congratulations as he did for each student that had been placed that day. She looked to her left to find Scorpius at the back of the crowd smiling at her with a knowing smirk as if to say 'I told you so'. She smiled back in understanding knowing that he would undoubtedly be placed in the same house as the rest of his family before him and he would be joining Charlie and herself very soon.

Jessica approached the long table at the far right side of the hall, slightly startled at the welcoming she was receiving. Charlie, along with other Slytherins at the end of the table, were there to greet her and after several people welcomed her to the house table she politely smiled and returned to the end of the table to take a seat across from Charlie. "Scorpius was right. He must truly know a thing or two, eh?"

"Apparently," Jessica replied simply, smiling softly. Charlie returned the look and they faced the front of the room again to watch as many more students were sorted throughout the four houses.

The Sorting Ceremony took an hour and twenty minutes in total. In the final minutes of the ceremony Scorpius' name was called and he approached the hat with confident strides and a look of grace in each movement he made. The exact moment the hat made contact with Scorpius' bright blond hair it animated once more and projected suddenly for the entire hall to hear, "Slytherin!"

Scorpius had expected nothing less to come from the ceremony and he smirked to himself knowingly as he kicked off the old stool. He then walked towards the table he knew he would be spending many meals at for the next seven years of his life. Again, Scorpius was greeted at the Slytherin table like all the rest and, once he was ready, he took a seat beside Charlie at the end of the table.

With the addition of Scorpius, the Slytherin table was now full of students, now matching the full Hufflepuff table beside it. Four students remained to be sorted after Scorpius and they were split evenly between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Once all the students were sorted and seated at their house tables, Headmistress McGonagall approached the podium surrounded with dark candles that held a beautiful golden statue of a large bird attached to the front of it. As she walked towards the podium, the candles lit up brightly and the avian spread its wings proudly across the podium. This seemed to catch the attention of the dining hall and any remaining noise or conversation after the Sorting Ceremony died completely as the school waited for the Headmistress to speak.

In the calm, cheerful voice of an older woman, McGonagall stated cheerfully, "I do not wish to keep you waiting any longer. I'm sure you're all ready to begin the feast. There are no announcements, so I would just like to welcome the first years to our school and wish you a comfortable transition. To everyone else, welcome back. I hope you all enjoyed your summer and you are excited to begin the new school year. Now without further delay…" McGonagall spoke as she raised her hands at her sides, "let the feast begin!"

At the end of the speech the plates set on the tables were piled high with seemingly unlimited assortments of meats, breads, vegetables, and desserts and the pitchers were filled with either water or Pumpkin juice. Whenever a plate or pitcher was emptied it would spontaneously refill on its own. As soon as the food appeared the students began to gather food as far as they could reach from their seat and pile it onto their personal platters, happy to finally have food within their grasp.

Charlie followed the lead of his fellow table mates and quickly filled his goblet with water, then began to pick out a small plate of poultry, greens, and buttered bread. Jessica and Scorpius on the other hand waited for the feeding frenzy to slow so they wouldn't lose an arm before calmly gathering their own food. Jessica sighed with relief when she was able to locate a few random vegetables that she was willing to try and she spooned small portions of each onto her plate. Jessica knew she would grow tired of the same vegetables over time if it was all she ate for every meal, but she soon came to the conclusion that she could just as easily fill up with bread which put her mind at easy as she began to eat.

Scorpius on the other hand noticed what seemed to be lacking on Jessica's plate and asked, "Allergic?"

"Pardon?"

Scorpius smiled at the girl across from him and clarified quickly, "Are you allergic to meat? There's plenty here I'm sure you could find something you'd like."

"No, I'm fine," Jessica stated quietly while shaking her head. The only explanation she offered was, "I don't eat meat."

"Oh. Fair enough," Scorpius nodded in understanding and continued to eat.

At that moment Jessica decided to fill her goblet and was disappointed when all that poured from the pitcher was a clear blue liquid. She sighed to herself again as she was reminded that she would have to go months with yet another substance that she often told herself she could not live without, soda or any caffeinated drinks.

Charlie noticed the disappointment on the young girl's face and asked sarcastically, "Well I hope that drink apologized. What on earth did it do to offend you so?"

"It poured out as water," Jessica stated seriously as she looked across the table to meet the pair of young boys' eyes looking back at her, "it reminded me that I will have to go over three months without caffeine."

"At least they serve tea at breakfast."

"Do they? What a relief. It may be the only thing that gets me up in the mornings," Jessica commented, now recovered from her momentary loss of all hope.

The feast continued for some time before the food vanished from the platters they were arranged on. McGonagall stood from her seat at the main table and announced that all students were to follow their house Prefects to their Common rooms. They would then receive the password and be placed into a dorm where their belongings would be awaiting them. Then the students were dismissed from the dining hall and the teachers exited from the teacher's entrance behind their table to return to their personal chambers, while the students were left to follow the assigned Prefects to their separate chambers.

Again, Jessica, Scorpius, and Charlie found themselves at the back of the large group, now six times as big as the group of first years that they had followed into the castle, following a sea of students down to the dungeons.

Walking through countless halls and gradually stepping further down into the building of the massive castle, the students finally came to a stop in front of a bare stone wall. The House Prefects, an older boy and girl in their seventh year, turned to face the students trailing after them.

The boy was the first to speak, "The wall behind me may not look like much, but that is the point. It is the entrance to the Slytherin Common room. It is the only area of the castle that we can call our own. Strictly speaking only Slytherins and teachers are allowed to enter. Now, the password has been the same for this entrance for the last seven years, don't forget it, because it's the only way you will be allowed to enter. When approaching the wall you must speak clearly," the boy demonstrated by walking closer towards the invisible wall to the hidden room it encompassed. The students, excluding the first years, knew the password and how to enter their Common room. They also knew how to find their dormitories, since students were reassigned the same dorm each year. But much like the multiple feasts that occurred throughout the year or the singing of the school song or the Sorting Ceremony, this was almost a tradition of its own. Each house went through the motions of explaining the ins and outs of its personal Common room, how to enter and use it.

Then the boy spoke clearly for everyone to hear, but what he said came out as sort of a hissing sound as he pronounced carefully, "Sabnass." And immediately the wall began to shift and opened a whole wide enough for an adult man to easily pass through.

The young man then looked behind him and motioned for the other students to follow. The first years looked confused, but continued to enter the room all the same.

The Slytherin Common room and dormitories are located directly under the Hogwarts Lake. The room is darkly lit and almost seems to give off its own dark green glow. The room is large and was built to be split into two rooms. When entering the Common room the students walk down a hallway which branches off into two identical rooms. Each are lined with tables and chairs and have a beautiful carved, black painted, wooden fire place. In the center of the room around each fire place are an assortment of black leather and green velvety chairs, couches, and foot stools. After the war, all four Common rooms of the castle had been remodeled and expanded to better suit the needs of the students who used them on a daily basis and students themselves were able to have a say in how they were made to look.

The large group of students stopped in the center of the hall between the two large rooms. Then the female Prefect took a turn in speaking.

"This is the Slytherin Common room. Any of you may use this room at any time of day for socializing, studying, and eating if you bring food from outside. Your dormitories are located through each room. Girl's dorms on the left, boy's on the right," she stated, pointing to each room. "You may use either room as long as you clean up after yourselves."

Then the boy continued, "There is no curfew set for you. But we ask you to not leave the Common room after 10 o'clock at night. If anyone from our house is caught out of bed by a teacher there will be a curfew put in place. After 10 o'clock we ask you to keep the noise down to a minimum. The Common room is sound proof, but your dorms are not. I suggest you learn a silencing charm or we ask you to remain quiet. If any complaints are made by anyone in the house you will have to talk to me," the young man stated firmly, looking towards some of the older boys in the back who were snickering. Many of the other students laughed as well which told Jessica that noise had been an issue before, but she simply thought to herself, 'what would you expect from a room full of teenagers'.

Then the Prefect looked to the front of the group were most of the young first years were gazing up at him quietly. "Now, I'm sure you would like me to repeat the password for the Common room door, yes," he asked smiling kindly, amused.

Many of the first years shook their heads quietly. "Well, a few years after the war that occurred on the grounds of our school the teachers decided that they would allow the students of each house to decide and set their own passwords for their Common room entrances. Seven years ago a student named Jasper became a Prefect in his sixth year, which rarely happens, and he was a Parseltongue. He decided to change the password during his year first year as a Prefect and he changed it to 'Sabnas' which translated, he claims, means "to open". We've used the same word ever since. Which brings me to my next rule of the Common room. Strictly speaking, only Slytherins and teachers are allowed in the Common room. But the teachers don't know our password. They have their own password which allows them into all four of the Common rooms. Jasper had decided that changing the password to a word in Parseltongue would make it more difficult for students to share the passwords between houses. Which is also why he decided that as long as a student from another house is accompanied by a student from Slytherin, students would be allowed to bring those from other houses into this common area. He decided that this expansion on a rule that has been set for thousands of years would help to promote house unity. As soon as this becomes a problem this rule will be removed. As long as no problems occur, you may bring in students from other houses, but they must leave the Common room by 10 o'clock. Are we clear?"

The students in front of him nodded their heads in sync whether the message got across to them or not. Then the Prefects stated that the time was 10 o'clock. They told the students that their schedules for the next year would be waiting for them to pick them up from the table at the end of the hall behind them. Then the young female Prefect directed the girls to follow her to find their dorms. The young boy did the same and the boys began to follow him to their dorms to the right.

Jessica bid a goodnight to both Charlie and Scorpius, and they returned the gesture, as they went their separate ways to each find their dorms.

Then Sara, the female Prefect, led Jessica and the rest of the girls through their side of the common room and up a flight of stairs which opened up into a long hallway. She told the girls their names were posted on their dorms and if they needed any help to come find her. She then walked to the end of the hall, making sure that all of the girls saw where she was going in case she was needed by any of them in the future, and disappeared around the corner to step into her personal dorm for the night.

Jessica found her dorm easily enough. A door on the right side of the hall, three doors from the end. Her name was written in large cursive letters on a piece of parchment attached to the door along with four other names. For now she paid no mind to the other names, they were just meaningless scribbles of black ink below her own, and the moment she found her name she eagerly entered her new room.

Entering the room, Jessica immediately located her trunk at the foot of one of the beds. The room had a total of six four post canopy beds. She walked into the center of the room on a dark carpet and began to assess her surroundings. Each bed had a small desk standing to its right and a small clock hung over the door. Between each bed and on either side of the door a candle was positioned on the wall with a single flame casting a dim light in the dark room. After gazing around the room, Jessica decided to approach her own bed. Her bed, assigned to her simply because her trunk landed in front of it, was positioned flush against the curving, circular wall between two large glass windows. As she approached she realized her curtain, like the others, on her bed was drawn open about a foot on the right side. Glancing between the curtains she found her carryon bag and the blue carrying cage lying on the freshly cleaned white sheets of her carefully made bed. Carefully she flicked open the latch on the door and quietly whispered 'hello' to her pet inside.

The creature occupying the carrier squeaked in reply then waddled out happily to greet its owner. Bilbo stopped three inches from the edge of the bed and gazed up at the young girl who owned him.

"I'd bet you're hungry," the girl whispered, so as not to be heard in the nearly vacant room.

With another squeak in reply she giggled to herself and set about preparing her familiar's dinner. Once he was eating his fill of insects neatly on her bed, Jessica began to sort through her belongings.

By the time Jessica laid down in her bed it was 11:15 at night. While Jessica sorted through her belongings, her roommates had trickled in one at a time as Jessica sorted through her trunk. Each time another girl entered, greetings were exchanged between all who were in the room, but the girls were tired from the exciting day and few greetings went beyond the polite exchange of names and a quiet hello. Jessica figured that they would have the next seven years to get to know each other since she knew that students were almost always assigned the same dorm and roommates each year. So for tonight, she quickly made eye contact with those who entered, then returned to her trunk. She would then continue to ignore her surroundings and the other moving bodies in the room as she organized her new living space. She had left most of her clothes in her trunk except for her night clothes which she had changed into, and her clothes she had worn that day which were currently resting on the floor. Those would be collected tomorrow morning to be washed by the school house elves. All of her school supplies were sorted away in her desk for her to begin using when school began Monday. Her carryon was hanging on the chair in front of her desk and the blue cage was sitting to the left of her trunk on the floor. Her wand and cell phone were isolated in the top drawer closest to her bed. The curtain was drawn around her and she had placed a silencing charm around her bed that she had learned from her mother so no noise could enter or leave the curtains when they were closed.

Now she is lying quietly on her soft bed staring up at the dark canopy looming above her. She has the blanket she brought from home resting atop the blanket that was given to her on her bed and Bilbo is sound asleep curled up on his side pressing against her upper right leg, breathing softly.

Jessica began reflecting on all that had happened to her in such a short amount of time and she decided that it had been a mostly successful day. The train ride wasn't as agonizing as she had expected it to be since she was able to meet and get along with two other occupants very quickly. In fact they had gotten along so well that they stayed together for the rest of the night. Jessica couldn't tell if they were her friends or not. Her natural instinct was to dismiss them immediately, because she assumed they would more than likely dismiss her after they made friends in their own dorms. But Jessica had liked the two boys she had met, liked their company and sense of humor and self-awareness. She had never gotten along with anyone else as quickly as she had gotten along with Charlie and Scorpius. She had hoped she had made a positive impact on them as well.

But eventually she decided she was simply working herself up and that only time would tell whether the three children would continue to associate or not.


	4. Inside the Boy's Dorm

Chapter 4: The Boys' Dorm

Author's Notes: I'm sorry for the long delay, there is simply no excuse. I have already begun writing chapter 5 and I promise it will be up in the next two weeks. Now that I know where I want this story to go in the long run I believe it will be easier for me to continue writing this story and my updates will become more regular. But again, I'm sorry for the delay for this chapter. Thank you to those who have been waiting on me to update and are continuing to read my story. And thank you to all that have given my story a chance. I hope you are all enjoying the story so far. Please R&R to let me know what you think. I love receiving feedback.

Now on with the story…

Once they were dismissed, Scorpius and Charlie said a quiet goodbye to Jessica then followed Jacob, the male Prefect, and the rest of the male Slytherins to the right of the Common room and up a tall flight of stairs. At the top of the staircase, the two were faced with an obscurely long hallway lined with several rooms on both sides and the male Prefect's voice could be heard at the end of the hall.

"You will find your names written on one of these doors. That will be your assigned room for the year. Your belongings will be found inside. If you have any questions or any problems at any time, my personal room is at the end of the hall to the right. Do not be afraid to come to my room and talk with me. Now I'll leave you to find your rooms. Remember to pick up your schedules tomorrow morning and breakfast is served every morning from 7:00 to 9:00. Goodnight."

And with that, Jacob walked around a corner at the end of the hall and slipped into his dorm. The rest of the male students were left in the corridor to find their rooms. Many would linger to talk in the hall. Scorpius and Charlie on the other hand began to move down the hall and weaved through the crowd of chatting teens to read the pieces of parchment on each door until they found their names.

It turns out that Scorpius and Charlie were assigned to be roommates and their room was positioned two doors down from the end of the hall on the left side of the corridor. Their names were written in messy print on a piece of white parchment along with three other boys' names that went without notice.

Upon entering the room, they noticed their trunks were placed at the foot of a bed. There were six beds in total, each wrapped in dark green curtains with a trunk placed in front of each. Candles lined the wall to give the room more light than was provided by the two windows in the wall opposite the door. There was a wooden desk to the right of each bed and a single clock hung over the door. The room was dimly lit, but the boys could still see that they were walking across a darkly shaded carpet. Though they were not aware of the fact, the boys' and girls' dorms were modeled exactly the same. Once they were inside, each boy approached his own bed, positioned nearly parallel across the room.

Scorpius walked directly towards his side desk which held a tall bird cage beside his randomly assigned bed to the left of the room. Pulling the silk cloth from the cage, he opened the door and stuck his hand through the gold colored bars to stroke his companion who was still fast asleep.

"Hello beautiful," he called to his bird, waking her gently. "You slept the whole day. Are you ready to eat? Maybe get up and move around?"

As a reply, Renee stepped out of her cage, stretching the muscles in her wings before taking flight, and soared high over the bed canopies. She made three slow, calm circles of the dorm before once again landing on Scorpius' new desk. Scorpius had gazed adoringly at his phoenix as she circled above his head then praised her as she landed in front of him once more. After feeding Renee and filling her water tray, he shut her cage once more.

Charlie on the other hand had moved to the right side of the room. He moved eagerly towards the bed he was assigned only to be attacked once in front of the drawn curtains and was knocked to the ground by a flying mass of black fur, purring loud enough to rival the sound of thunder.

Wrapping his arms around the mammal tightly, he mimicked the verbal greeting then stood and set the large animal back on the bed. "Hey girl, did you miss me?"

Without making a sound, the cat dropped off the bed and approached Charlie's trunk, then he began to claw at the latches.

"Oh, you haven't eaten since breakfast, have you?" Charlie said aloud as he opened the trunk and pulled out the feline's food. He set it out on the floor then straightened up in time to watch Scorpius' avian fly over his head and make a final circle around the room before landing on the other boy's desk to receive praise.

As the bird landed, Charlie pulled his cloak over his head and decided to make conversation with the boy across the room.

"Are you going to check her into the bird sanctuary," Charlie asked casually from across the dorm as he halfheartedly folded his school cloak for it to be dealt with later.

"I will Sunday night and I'll send her with a letter to my family, but I'm not ready to be away from her yet," Scorpius admitted looking to his avian once more, though he wasn't sure what had possessed him to do so. Recovering quickly, he decided to begin sorting through his trunk.

Forty five minutes passed in silence. Each boy sorted his belongings into his small desk that was provided for him. As they sorted their belongings two other boys joined them in the room and they exchanged names politely, then went on to ignore each other's presence for the time being. Fang paced around the room but remained several feet from the unknown roommates. It was around this time when Fang walked across the room to Scorpius' bed and began to snoop. He paced around Scorpius' bed, acknowledged the bird in its cage, but left it to sleep, and sniffed inside his trunk. After deciding there was nothing of interest, Fang slinked back to his side of the room. As he passed, Scorpius pulled his hand from the trunk and, without looking up from his work, ran it down Fang's back. There was a brief moment when Fang tensed at the unexpected gesture but he quickly relaxed under the boy's hand and continued to move forward as the hand traveled down his back on and off his body.

The exchange didn't go without notice by the feline's owner. Charlie scratched the cat's ears in praise for willingly being social and watched as he jumped back onto the bed to claim the single pillow as his own.

"At least he didn't attack my bird," Scorpius commented as he flipped the latched on his trunk closed for the night.

"Of course not. He knows better than to do that," Charlie replied sending a sideways glance towards the mentioned creature. The only response he received from Fang was a flick of his tail and a lazy bat of his eyes. "Though he may just be tired. It has been a long day for all of us."

Exhausted grunts of agreement that belonged to the other roommates could be heard around the room as Scorpius replied, "That it has."

The room was slowly winding down from the excitement of the day. All of the occupants of the room had finished sorting their belongings and were now preparing for bed. The last boy bounded into the room with a large grin and loudly greeted his new roommates. Everyone turned to greet him quietly then returned to their own affairs. The still energetic boy seemed to get the message and quietly walked over to his own bed. Introduction would have to wait until everyone was more awake.

After the loud entrance from the remaining dorm member, Scorpius decided to turn in for the night. He covered Renee's cage once more, whispering her a quiet goodnight to help loll her back to sleep. He had seen her receive looks of fascination from other members in the room, but none had been brave enough to approach them. Scorpius quickly and quietly changed into his night clothes and decided to put a silencing charm around his bed so he couldn't be disturbed. Pulling his wand from his desk, he calmly muttered a short spell that caused his curtains to shimmer for a moment then go still. Scorpius had no doubt that the spell had worked, he had performed it multiple times prior to this, so there was no need to even test his own work.

His casting seemed to gain him no added attention, either the other wizards in the room hadn't notice him perform the spell or they could perform it themselves and simply were unimpressed.

Except Charlie noticed, and he beckoned quietly from across the room for Scorpius to join him.

Scorpius walked a short distance across the room when he was called and asked casually, "Need some help?"

"If you wouldn't mind. I'm taking basic classes this year, so I don't believe I could cast the spell on my own," Charlie explained, slightly embarrassed.

"Don't you have an older brother," Scorpius asked curiously.

"He's only a third year. He basically taught me how to wave my wand in front of me," Charlie joked well naturedly.

"Still, basic wand use and spells. It's a waste in classes. You probably could have skipped it and caught up just as easily."

"Well, if it's an easy class, it's an easy grade. Can't go wrong with that, eh?"

"Very true," Scorpius replied, then he pointed his wand towards Charlie's bed and asked, "May I?"

"Of course. Just don't curse my bed," Charlie responded as he stepped back to give the other child room to work.

"I appreciate the compliment, but even I am not that advanced, yet. After all, I'm only a first year. But when I am I'll be sure to use my new found power on you first," Scorpius quipped back.

Then with a wave of his wand and a few muttered words later, Charlie's curtains surrounding his bed began to shimmer and were still again.

"Thank you. I appreciate it," Charlie stated, nodding towards Scorpius.

"No trouble at all. But you do owe me a debt now," Scorpius stated with a serious expression.

"Consider it paid. I snore."

Again Scorpius broke out smiling, "Yes, well, that will suffice."

"Really, thanks," Charlie said as he approached his bed again and pushed Fang down to the foot of it before turning around to again face the boy he had been talking to.

"Of course," Scorpius replied.

"Hey, do you want to get breakfast tomorrow morning," Charlie asked, not sure if he was in line to ask such a thing. He immediately regretted opening his mouth and expected a polite decline because the two were simply not good enough friends yet.

"Yes, of course," was Scorpius' automatic response, relieved to have someone to sit with. Then as an afterthought, "Maybe we can meet Jessica in the Common room and ask her to join us before she leaves," he added, wanting to include the other student that they had associated with that day.

"That is to say if she wants anything to do with us," Charlie commented a little gloomily. No more had to be said on the subject, both boys shared the same thought in that moment. Jessica would undoubtedly make friends in her dorm and she would have no interest talking to the two of them any longer.

"Well regardless. I'll see you in the morning. Don't make me wake you up," Scorpius threatened, changing the subject by pointing his wand towards the person he was addressing and walking in the direction of his own bed.

"Alright. Put that away before you hurt someone," Charlie replied, raising his hands in mock surrender. "Night."

"Night." And with that Charlie pulled the shirt he was wearing from his body, tossing it on the chair in front of his desk, and climbed into his bed. He closed the now sound proof curtains behind him and laid down in his new bed, covering his legs with the blanket.

As he expected, Fang stood up from the foot of the bed to move a few inches closer to Charlie's head, then flopped down onto his owner's stomach. He wiggled around for a few moments, trying to find a comfortable position, but Charlie didn't mind. He loved sharing a bed with his over grown feline companion, even if he took up half of it and had a tendency to hog the blanket.

Charlie took a few minutes before falling asleep to think back on all that had happened to him that day. He had safely made it to the school with his belongings and he had found his dorm without a single problem. He even met some new friends on the train. Though the three had just met Charlie figured they had gotten along great, as good as any strangers could. He had been worried that he would be eating alone for the first few days of school, but somehow he had found the courage in a spilt second decision to ask his new friend to eat with him at breakfast. All in all it was a pretty good day. Charlie just hoped that the two other students he had talked to during the day would continue to engage with him and that come school Monday he would be able to find his classes.

With these positive thoughts and thoughts of the distance future buzzing in his head, Charlie rolled onto his left side and focused on falling asleep. His motions caused Fang to fall off of Charlie and onto the bed in front of him and Fang meowed loudly in protest. Charlie simply closed his eyes, but placed his right hand against the warm mammal to sooth him back to sleep.

Scorpius returned to his side of the room as soon as the conversation had ended. He noticed the boy that was last to walk into the dorm was still busy sorting his belongings and was trying to be silent with his actions so he didn't disturb everyone else. The other boys, including Charlie, had now gone to sleep and Scorpius planned to do the same. He stored his wand in a drawer of his desk within easy reach from his bed. Then he slide beneath his blanket and pull the curtains around his bed, securing him inside.

Scorpius felt immediate relief as soon as his back hit the bed bellow him. He quickly realized that, like at home, his room was the only place he could call his own and escape the enormous, loud, busy, and demanding world around him. Except here at school he only had the space the size of a bed compared to his rather large bedroom back home. Today hadn't even been a challenge, hardly anything had happened compared to days when his father brought him and his mother along to important meetings or dinners concerning his work. And though he hadn't shown it, he had been nervous about boarding the train on his own and even more nervous about the Sorting Ceremony. Of course he knew where he would be sorted, he was even able to guess were his new associates would be placed. But it was an important ceremony all the same, thankfully he hadn't somehow made a fool of himself.

So he decided to take a few minutes before darkness engulfed him to stare around his new living space. Inside the bed with no light to be seen, the green curtains looked black. Scorpius took comfort in this, and decided that if he couldn't have his home or his own bedroom where he always felt safe and never judged by those around him, then this quiet and dark fortress of solitude would substitute just fine.


	5. The First Day

Chapter 5: The First Day

Jessica woke up the next morning without the assistance of an alarm clock. She sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes, willing her mind to catch up with her body. Once she had her vision back she looked up at the dark green curtains that encompassed her bed and she was reminded where she was. Slightly put off by her realization of her current location, but determined to get through the day in one piece, Jessica pulled open the curtain and pulled her phone from her desk.

It was only 7:20 in the morning. It was strange that she had awoken on her own so early in the morning, but she figure it was due to the fact that she was excited and nervous about today to come and was glad she woke early. But soon, Jessica was pulled from her short string of thoughts by a small squeak sounding just below her phone. When she looked to her lap she was met by the gaze of her small companion sitting on her lap, asking for attention.

Bilbo was sitting up on his hind legs in the center of Jessica's lap gazing at her with questioning eyes. He squeaked again, a quiet sound meant solely for the young girl.

Jessica replied to the small creature by running a hand across his short back. Then she clambered out of her bed and walked to her trunk. From her trunk she pulled out her clothes for the day and food for Bilbo. She returned to her bed and stepped inside, drawing the curtains closed once more. She poured food into Bilbo's bowl and set it on top of her pillow for him to eat. "I assume you were asking for breakfast," Jessica said to herself aloud as Bilbo began to eat. "You can eat here this morning, but we will need to find you a proper place to eat," she added. While he ate, Jessica changed into her clothes for the day: An identical pair of black jeans (to the ones she wore the day before) and a black t-shirt with **221B Baker Street** printed in white across the front.

Looking up from her shirt to Bilbo across the length of the bed she asked sarcastically, "This is subtle right? It won't draw too much attention?"

After a moment without response, she sighed to herself. She was over reacting, of course, it was just a shirt. She reminded herself that no one was going to care. And with that she opened the curtains and jumped off her bed. "Thanks Bilbo. Can I trust you to stay on the bed while I'm gone?"

Bilbo looked up at Jessica when he recognized him name and wrinkled his nose towards her in response to her question. Jessica figured it wouldn't hurt anyone to leave him out of his cage as long as he stay on the bed. "Alright, but if you cause any trouble you'll have to live in your cage while I'm gone."

Jessica ran her hand over the small mammal again before picking her phone off of her bed where she had dropped it. She turned it off once more, more concerned with saving battery then getting a few minutes of quiet alone time to play games she had long since tired of. And yet she couldn't bring herself to leave it in her room either. So it joined her wand, silent and cold, hidden on her person in case she needed it throughout the day and she closed the curtain around her bed once again.

When Jessica left her dorm it was twenty minutes till eight and she jogged down the stairs to the Common room, intent on finding her schedule for the year before going to the Great Hall for breakfast and spending the rest of her day finding her classes so she wouldn't get lost in the castle on Monday.

Charlie was woken up by a large black head rubbing against the back of his own and a heavy black paw poking his right side from behind him. When he wouldn't sit up Fang began to whine, trying to get his owner out of bed.

Charlie eventually sat up and slid out of his bed. He set Fang's food out beside the bed and tiredly asked, "There, are you happy now?"

The cat simple stepped off the bed, flicking his tail back and forth as he approached his plate of food and gingerly began to eat.

With Fang ate, Charlie picked his phone off of his desk and turned it on, waiting patiently for it to come to life in his hand. 7:00 flashed brightly at the top of the screen. "Right on time," Charlie whispered to himself, though he was commending the hungry carnivore below him.

As Charlie glanced around his dorm he realized he was the only one awake. He decided to change that.

Charlie walked across the dorm and ripped open the curtains around Scorpius' bed that were facing the window. The sudden disturbance in silence along with the added dim light coming from the window was enough to wake the sleeping boy inside the cocoon of green fabrics.

"Oi. Why did you do that," Scorpius asked rolling away from the sudden intrusion of light hitting his face.

"Time to wake up. We have a breakfast to attend and a castle to explore before the day is over," Charlie replied in a whisper, trying not to disturb the other sleeping inhabitants of the room while also trying to contain his joy over his small personal victory.

"But it's Saturday. I think I'm entitled to sleep in. How are you even awake?" Scorpius groggily asked.

"Fang is my alarm clock. He demands to eat at 7:00 in the morning and he never misses a meal," Charlie replied as he paced back to his side of the room to change. "And breakfast is from seven to nine. Since I'm awake, with nothing to do at the moment, I may as well be eating."

Scorpius groaned in resentment, but rolled out of bed all the same, five minutes later.

Charlie threw on a pair of blue jeans and a solid black shirt. He quickly ran a black comb through his matching black hair and cleaned up Fang's breakfast. It took him a total of eight minutes to prepare for the rest of his day.

Scorpius on the other hand took a moment to sift through his trunk before deciding what to wear. Once dressed, somewhat differently to Charlie, in black slacks and a dark green button down shirt, in slightly more expensive fabric, he took time to fill Renee's food and water trays built inside her cage.

When he opened her cage, Renee, already awake, tried to step from her carrier and Scorpius held his hand in front of her to keep her from leaving the cage. She squawked loudly in protest, but remained inside like she was asked. The noise from the avian caught the attention of Fang across the room and woke one of the other boys' large dog who was asleep on the floor beside his bed.

"I know, I'm sorry. I'll let you out again tonight," Scorpius promised the young bird, trying to calm her.

Renee ruffled her feathers in agitation, but allowed Scorpius to fill her trays all the same.

This took Scorpius a total of fifteen minutes and not a moment after he gave the word, Charlie was out the door and down the hall. By the time they reached the floor of the Common room it was 7:35.

The two boys crossed the length of the Common room and entered the dividing hallway where they found no less than two dozen shuffling students crowded around the large table at the end of the hall. Above the table was a message written in the Jacob's handwriting (also found on the dorm doors of the boys' rooms) as a reminder to the other students to pick up their schedules.

Before the two could approach the table however, Charlie's older brother stepped out of the crowd with his schedule in hand.

Nodding to each other in acknowledgement, Charlie's brother approached.

"Hey Charlie," his brother called to catch his attention.

"Hey Ben," Charlie greeted in turn.

"So, how do you like your new room," he asked, curious. Ben is a full two inches taller than Charlie with similar facial features and short black hair.

"It's fine. Same as everyone else's I'm sure."

"That it is. How's Fang?"

"Completely unaffected by his new surroundings."

"I'm sure, damn menace," Ben replied with a smile identical to Charlie's own. "And who are you?"

"Scorpius Malfoy," Scorpius replied politely, formally.

"Benjamin Lester," Ben replied as they shook hands briefly. "I'm Charlie's older brother."

"Do you like your schedule," Charlie asked, pointing towards the paper in his brother's hand.

"Oh, I guess," Ben replied as he glanced towards the mentioned parchment he held. "I have to go wake up the guys in my room so they can pick up theirs for us to compare."

"We were just about to do the same," Scorpius commented.

"Good luck finding it. At least you woke up early. If you think this is bad wait until eight when the whole house starts to wake up and pour from their chambers. Anyway, what are you two doing today? Got any plans for your first day?"

"We're hoping to meet another friend and go to breakfast this morning. Maybe find ourselves sneaking around the castle after," Charlie replied with a mischievous look on his face.

"Just try not to get in trouble on the first day, will you? And don't break anything that looks important," Ben replied, mostly laughing. "Well, I have to go. Do me a favor and write a letter home by tomorrow night. I'll put it with mine and take them to the bird sanctuary to be sent home with Alfie Monday. Do it so mum knows not to worry about you."

"I'll work on it tonight. Can I find you in here tomorrow?"

"I'm sure I'll be in and out tomorrow. See you around Charlie," And with that, Ben walked around Charlie and Scorpius, heading towards the male dormitory, and patting his younger brother on the shoulder as he went.

"Your brother seems nice," Scorpius commented casually as he walked forward to approach the table.

"He can be when he wants to," Charlie replied as he approached the table as well.

Jessica walked down the stairs at 7:40 and entered the Common room. The room was empty of people, but she could hear multiple voices coming from the hall.

Once in the hallway, she saw a clustered group of teens raking through papers on a table. After waiting a few minutes several children tore themselves away from the mass group and Jessica joined in the struggle to find her schedule.

She quickly noticed that the schedules where separated between boys' and girls' and lined in alphabetical order. She was able to find her schedule in less than two minutes and soon separated herself from the group still frantically searching the table.

Once she was cleared from the group she walked several feet from the table and heard what sounded like her name being called from her left.

"Jessica," Scorpius called from underneath the opening of the right side of the Common room. He was standing with Charlie and they were each holding their schedules in front of them, ready to compare.

Jessica was surprised to have run into the two boys she had talked to yesterday simply by chance. She assumed she wouldn't see them until, earliest, breakfast. She was even more surprised that one of them (her memory quickly supplied his name), Scorpius, was now asking her to join in their conversation.

"Hello," She spoke quietly. Nervous about joining the boys' conversation even though she had talked to them for a majority of the day prior.

"Good morning," Charlie greeted her, glad that they were able to catch her before she left the Slytherin Common room and went to breakfast.

"How was last night? Did you sleep well," Scorpius asked, trying to help the girl in front of him transition into their conversation.

"Fine, actually. I slept a lot better than I was expecting to," Jessica replied, finding her voice as she began to speak. "How about you two? Find your rooms okay?"

"We were assigned to the same room actually," Charlie replied.

"Oh, must be nice to already know someone. No one in my room spoke past greeting each other," Jessica stated.

"The other boys in our room didn't either. I think everyone was too tired to after such a long day," Charlie stated.

"We were just comparing our schedules for the year. Have you looked at yours yet," Scorpius asked Jessica, refocusing the subject.

"No I haven't," Jessica answered as she raised the paper in her right hand and held it flat in front of her so her two companions could see it to compare.

The students' schedules are written to show their classes for each day of the week. Schedules differ between years and depend on the subjects that the student chooses to take. Classes start at 9 o'clock, normally lasting an hour, and with a short break in between each. Lunch is from eleven to one. Classes resume and continue until five with an extended break around tea time. A student will have two classes in the morning followed by several classes in the afternoon unless a student has a "double period" in which a single class will last for two hours. The main difference between first years' and other years' schedules is that they don't have classes Friday afternoons. The eight classes that Jessica, Scorpius, and Charlie are taking are mandatory classes for the first five years of school. The level of difficulty in each class increases with each year.

Now Jessica, Scorpius, and Charlie stood in a line under the large doorway to the right side of the Common room, comparing schedules. Their schedules are identical except for when Charlie is scheduled to take basic level Charms Wednesday afternoon, while Jessica and Scorpius are scheduled to take a class of flying lessons for a second time during the week. They trade classes the very next period, except Jessica and Scorpius take a more advanced level of Charms or Charms Two. Both classes of Charms are exclusive to first years, the difference depends on the student's personal knowledge prior to attending school.

"Wow, they're almost exact copies," Jessica noticed automatically when the lists were placed in front of her.

"Hmm, except for, Wednesday afternoon," Charlie pointed out just as quickly. His hand ran over the lines of Jessica's schedule as he compared it to his own. He's frowning at the pieces of parchment at hand and sounds mildly disappointed.

"We have double potions two days of the week. That was my father's favorite class," Scorpius commented, mainly as a note to himself. He was interested in the class itself and wondered if he would enjoy it as much as his father had.

"Do either of you have experience flying a broomstick," Jessica asked.

"Is that what flying lessons are? They're actually going to teach us how to fly," Charlie asked, voice now filled excitement.

"It's a mode of transportation in the Wizard world," Scorpius explained. "But mainly brooms are used for the sport "Quidditch". It's a mandatory class for first years to take flying lessons. Anyone with an interest in the sport after their first year can try out for the House teams. I've never had much interest in the sport myself, but my father takes me to the World Cup to watch national teams compete."

"I've played on muggle sports teams, but I've never had any real interest in sports personally," Jessica shared with the boys around her, "but maybe it will be interesting to learn how to play a wizard sport."

"I've never been into sports either, but maybe this will be different. It is flying after all," Charlie commented, genuinely interested. "If nothing else it'll be an easy afternoon class, especially on Monday. Well, is anyone else ready for breakfast? We can take these with us and continue to look over them while we eat."

The two other children easily agreed since they were hungry as well. By the time the three friends sat down at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall it was 8:10. About half of all four House tables were full of students already gorging on their breakfast and students were coming and going as they pleased. Many of the teachers are sitting at their assigned seats as well. With almost an hour to eat their breakfast, the three friends sat at the end of the table closest to the door and began to gather food. Once they were each satisfied with what was in front of them they slowly ate and continued to look over their schedules trying to memorize them for the coming school year.

At 9:00, the food and drink disappeared from the tables and a large fraction of the room left to explore the castle and find other activities to occupy their weekend. Others stayed and spread themselves further across the tables as a result of the added elbow room.

At the end of breakfast, students streamed out of the Great Hall, signaling the end of breakfast, and the three friends stayed to discuss what to do with the rest of their day. Charlie was positioned on the end of the bench with his leg straight out at his side, back against the wall with Scorpius sitting to his left only a foot away. Jessica sat across from both of them as their conversation continued without disruption.

"Are you sure we are allowed to travel throughout the castle," Jessica asked for the second time since the conversation had begun. She's concerned about getting caught in an area they are not allowed to be in, but far more excited to travel the grounds of the castle.

Charlie had been the one to offer the idea, stating he wanted to find each of his class rooms before the beginning of term. It was Scorpius who eagerly agreed to join him considering that they all shared a schedule and it would be pointless not to. Scorpius also mentioned that he knew of some secret rooms and hidden passage ways on the school grounds that are strictly speaking "off limits" to students and would be worth checking out, after they found their class rooms, of course.

Now the three had their heads together and were whispering quietly so no other students could hear their discussion even though there was no one within twenty feet of their seats.

"It's not like we're talking about walking off school grounds and trekking over to Hogsmeade," Charlie explained quietly. At the mention of taking a risk and being able to discover something that most, if not any of the other students at Hogwarts, have ever seen or heard of, Charlie immediately jumped on board with Scorpius' idea. "We just want to have a look around the castle before term starts and possibly get the chance to see what other students don't normal get to see."

"And we are allowed to roam the hall's while we are not in class," Scorpius put in. "I guarantee, everyone else will be spending their weekend searching the grounds for somewhere to socialize or for something to pass as entertainment as well. The difference is we will already know where to look."

"Or you know, as long as we aren't caught," Charlie added, grinning.

"And as long as we're back to our Common room by ten we have absolutely nothing to worry about," Scorpius promised, giving Charlie a sideways glance. In that moment Charlie believed him and Jessica was trying to convince herself to as well. "So, what do you say? It won't take us too long to find our classrooms. We will have the rest of the afternoon to explore."

Charlie was the one who issued this mission and had agreed long ago. Scorpius was just supplying the elements/tasks for them to complete. The two boys sat across the table staring at the girl in front of them with hopeful eyes. Because they had spent the previous day interacting with Jessica they wanted to include her in their adventure. They each decided privately that they liked the young girl. They liked her wit and enjoyed her company and hoped she was up for their mischievous plans.

With two young and excited boys staring her down from across the table, Jessica just simply couldn't say no. It was obvious that the two wizards wanted her to join them and frankly she was surprised. She looked into both of their eyes and saw trouble looking back at her. The look she received from both young boys said that they were ready to take a risk and they didn't mind getting lost or running into trouble along the way.

With the promise of an adventure ahead, even if it was just walking aimlessly on castle grounds which served as a school ('honestly how dangerous could it be, Jessica thought), excitement began to build in Jessica's body as she stood from her seat at the table.

"Well, we better get a move on then. The longer we wait the less sunlight we have."

Working together to find the rooms, it took a mere hour to locate them. Then when they decided to walk to each class again, this time in order of their schedule, it only took them twenty five minutes.

Once the students were confident that they would be able to find their classes when the time came for it, they stored their schedules' away in the pockets of their pants. Then they began to whisper again so none of the many students passing by them in the halls could hear their conversation.

"So…where to first," Jessica asked Scorpius as they huddled against the wall with their backs to the hallway itself. They were each trying to remain quiet as they appeared to the rest of the student body that traveled past them as if they were simply having an ordinary conversation that wouldn't be worth the trouble of listening to.

"Well that depends. What do you want to see first," Scorpius replied, smiling mischievously as he referred to the multiple options he had little knowledge over.

"Do you really know where the passages in and out of the school are," Charlie asked.

"Well, I know of one. The rumor is there are seven in total and they were closed during the tail end of the war. But then they were reopened by students who knew about the passages and returned to the school to finish their final year. We don't have to go through it if neither of you want to leave the grounds, but it may become useful if we ever become bored of doing our homework," Scorpius explained.

"Well I can't argue with that logic, can I," Jessica inquired sarcastically. She was impressed that it was Scorpius who was suggesting that they take the risk and explore areas in the castle that are questionable as to if they should be entering them or not. But she figured that if it was going to be anyone of them it would be the one with the most knowledge. "How do you know so much about the school?"

"My father told me many stories of his time here at school. He was hoping I'd learn from his mistakes. Then he discovered that I just liked hearing about the school and listening to him talk about it, so he told me everything that he knows about the school itself and what goes on within it," Scorpius explained with a bit of a shrug. "I like to think I know more about this school than most students who attend it ever will and more than many teachers are told before they begin work here."

Scorpius knew why Jessica had asked what she had. Why would a clean cut boy raised by a high end family go out of his way to look for trouble that didn't directly help him to get a leg up on something in life? Most people would look at the son of a Malfoy and assume he stayed inside, completed all his work on time, and would only go out of his way to receive praise from those around him. And they were right to do so, up until the end of the war when Draco Malfoy was finally out of his father's demanding shadow.

It was this expectation which made Scorpius so willing to take risks and go put of his way to do things he was not expected to do. Scorpius was brought up very differently to how his father was raised. He was raised an only child by loving and parents and a caring grandmother who all lived in the massive Malfoy Manor (a large home for only four people). His mother works as a secretary in the Ministry, a lower rank job compared to Jessica's mother and they have never met, and his father works as a well-known, well-respected healer who often works alongside the Ministry himself on certain matters, either as a representative or as a personal healer to Ministry workers and their families. Because both of Scorpius' parents' work connects them to the Ministry they have to appear as a well-kept family. Whenever work requires them to show their faces to the public they arrive with their son and come off as a wealthy, successful, Pureblood family. But at home, out of the public eye, the Malfoy's are a normal, loving family, as hard as it is for most to believe. Which is why Scorpius is most comfortable at home or in his room which is the only space in the world that he can truly call his own. It's where he and his family can be themselves without receiving judgement from those around them. Scorpius is used to putting on a front around certain people because they expect a lot of him or for him to act a certain way because they know who he is and where he comes from. Which is why he is so willing to go out of his way to break a few rules when he is given the opportunity. Because it's unexpected of him and it goes against what most people, excluding family, believe him to be.

"Then please, lead the way," Jessica said, waving him on with a smile of her own. She had high hopes and was expecting to be impressed by the wizard she was following.

Not long after the conversation ended and the three friends walked for a short time before arriving at the stairs to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom (or DADA) for the third time that day.

Scorpius took a moment to scan his eyes around the general area before his eyes landed on a statue. Now sure of his target, Scorpius took long strides towards the statue shaped like a gargoyle and proceeded to step behind it. Jessica merely sent a look after him before joining him behind the carved rock with Charlie on her heels.

With the three young students cramped together behind the gargoyle they were almost completely obstructed from the view of anyone who would pass them in the hallway.

Standing between the statue, the stair case, and each other, Jessica and Charlie waited for a passage to appear before them. Once his friends joined him behind the statue Scorpius didn't hesitate to whisper, "Dissendium," which caused the hump of the large statue to slide open, revealing a previously hidden passage way consisting of immediate stairs and a long walkway.

"Where does it lead," Charlie whispered curiously.

"Honeydukes; a sweet shop in Hogsmeade. Straight into the cellar," Scorpius whispered over his shoulder as he smiled broadly into the entrance of the passage way, proud of his small achievement. "I don't suppose you two want to take a stroll?"

"What are we going to do? Sneak in and steal some chocolates," Jessica asked, almost hissing, skeptically. She was trying to be the voice of reason.

"Maybe not today. You said there was a room you wanted to find as well," Charlie asked, not yet brave enough to venture into a dark tunnel and leave school grounds.

"Of course," was his reply as Scorpius closed the statue and walked out into the hall, Jessica and Charlie followed his lead as if nothing had happened.

Then the trio began to climb a countless number of stairs, too many in Jessica's opinion, until they reached the seventh floor of the school.

Eventually they came upon a wall where Scorpius told them to stop while he continued to pace in front of its barren surface. When he stopped pacing, he came to rest in front of the middle of the wall and a door appeared. There hadn't been a door before and yet a door had formed in the middle of the wall. It was a simple, white door and Jessica and Charlie assumed that this was the entrance. They looked to Scorpius once it was formed and watched him approach the door with a soft smile on his face.

The two followed the blond inside and walked into a massive bed room with a dull color scheme. Jessica calculated that it was more than twice the size of her personal bedroom at home.

It was again Charlie who voiced the question, "It's a secret bedroom?"

Scorpius was quiet for a moment before he answered while sitting on the large bed that was neatly made in the center of the room, "You are in the Room of Requirement. It's a room that opens to those who need it. If you pace in front of the wall three times and concentrate on what you need a door will appear and inside it will give you what you request of it. This is my room," Scorpius explained, gesturing around himself.

"Really? You must like us if you're showing us your room back home," Jessica stated, smiling smugly at the assumption she had just made about her new friend.

"Not really. It was simply the first thing that came to mind," Scorpius replied, speaking in a patronizing tone, smiling easily and lying through his teeth even more so before relaxing again. His room was his safe heaven, yet he had shown it to two nearly complete strangers. Why, he wasn't sure. And yet, it was at that moment that Scorpius decided that they weren't strangers and he considered the people in front of him to be friends. And he realized that he didn't regret showing them his room, it honestly was the first place that came to mind. He took a short moment to observe his room before asking, "Pretty cool, right?"

"This room will give us anything we want," Jessica asked, looking around the room quizzically. The wheels began to turn in her head.

"Well, broadly speaking. It can replicate the room you think of or it can create its own room to suit what you need. But I'm sure, like everything it has its own limits to what it can do."

Jessica pulled her phone from her back pocket, flipping it over in her hands several times as she concentrated on what she wanted.

But the room didn't change. It remained a replica of Scorpius' neutral colored room. Not even an outlet appeared.

"Guess it doesn't do muggle tech." Charlie supplied for her.

"Well, it was worth a shot," Jessica replied, storing her mobile in her jeans once more, defeated.

"It can't replicate something it has no knowledge of. Wizards created this room centuries ago. It wouldn't be able to create whatever you need for, that," Scorpius explained.

"How disappointing," Jessica sighed. "Still, no one knows about this place?"

"As far as I know. I'm sure others have heard rumors and a few teachers probably know of its location, but this is ours as far as we or anyone else is concerned," Scorpius replied, smiling as if he owned the world, and at that moment he did.

"That's bloody amazing," Jessica exclaimed, letting out a breathy laugh.

"What else do you have the key to," Charlie asked Scorpius. He pointed to his own head as he looked to the boy across the room, it was a challenge.


	6. Start of Term

Chapter 6: Start of Term

The rest of the weekend passed mainly uneventfully. Before leaving the Room of Requirement the three friends took time to test its abilities, thinking of food and fresh air and safety. With each request the room would shift and the area around them would change dramatically. It appeared as an over lit kitchen and dining room. A park with rolling fields and huge oak trees with wide low hanging branches. And finally it became a dark, gloomy room filled with overflowing mountains of long forgotten furniture and clothes and kitchen supplies and toys and shelves that reached the ceiling cluttered with even more that lined the walls, creating a maze, a place to hide.

With this room hidden from the rest of the world locked away in each of the children's' minds in case they ever had need for it, they closed the door behind them and left it without attracting any notice from other students that were walking through the hall.

Then the three friends returned to the Common room and this is where they remained for the rest of the weekend between meals and sleep. They claimed a dark wooden table in the farthest left corner of the boys' side of the Common room beside the carved fire place.

At some point, Charlie brought parchment and a quill to the table and wrote a letter to be sent home. Jessica and Scorpius took time to memorize their schedules and talked about what they expected from their upcoming classes before deciding to join Charlie in writing their own. At meals they spent their time talking about the school, about the other hidden rooms that even Scorpius had no knowledge of their location, but had heard rumors of their existence. They talked about other passages that would lead them out of the castle and the Dark Forest and the Hogwarts Lake and Hogsmeade not too far from the grounds. They discussed where they could explore, but eventually decided to save the adventures for days when they had nothing more to do. They discussed the classes they were going to take and Jessica and Charlie talked of home; about movies they both liked or TV shows they couldn't wait to binge watch once they returned home for the winter break. Jessica and Scorpius told the stories of how their parents first began teaching them magic and each promised Charlie that they would help him catch up to their personal level so that he would be the star of his beginners class.

Scorpius checked Renee into the bird sanctuary Sunday night. Then, before leaving, sent her home, patting down her feathers and telling her to take her time so she wouldn't be cooped up in the school longer than she would already have to be. He promised to visit her once she returned then she disappeared through one of the open windows, jumping off her owners outstretched arm and caught the breeze with her open wings, a small note firmly secured to her left foot by green string. Walking to his dorm he realized that he had just sent his best friend home without him and wouldn't see her for the next week, at the least. It would also be the longest she has ever traveled to deliver a message and he began to worry for her; willing her to return to him soon. Entering the room, Charlie greeted him as he passed through their door and engaged him in conversation. Scorpius was thankful for his friend's obliviousness and his anxiety soon dissolved. For the rest of the night, the two gathered their things for school to begin the next day.

Jessica spent her mornings and evenings with her new beloved pet. He quickly became accustomed to hearing his given name and she opted to have him eat his meals on her small desk. She also continued allowing him to sleep in her bed and retired his carrier under her bed until they would need it to return home. She hoped that the small mammal had become equally attached to herself, as she had to him. Judging by the way he would gravitate towards her small form in the middle of the night in search for comfort and warmth, he had.

XXXXXXXX

Jessica woke at 7:20 on Monday morning, with a small hedgehog curled against the area between her neck and shoulder. Getting up and stretching her arms above her shoulders she realized she was again the first to wake in her dorm. She figured once school began she would begin to sleep in like her fellow roommates.

She changed quickly while Bilbo ate, today in her school assigned cloak, white button up shirt, Slytherin tie, and black slacks and shoes. She seemed to be rushing to dress this morning and realized she was anxious about attending her classes. Jessica has always hated the first day of school, but she took a few steady breathes to calm herself after remembering she shared a schedule with two people she liked to think she knew well.

Cleaning up Bilbo's breakfast and gathering her items for her first class of the day she opened the curtain to allow Bilbo to crawl back onto the bed where she knew he would sleep most of the day away. "Wish me luck Bo," she whispered, using her just recently assigned nickname for him, and closed the curtain swiftly causing the dense material to sway and for a sharp 'clink' to resonate above her head.

Charlie, after being woken up by a stealthy black figure, woke Scorpius before moving back to his bed to change. Scorpius followed his lead and they each dressed in identical school uniforms, tying matching scarves bearing their House colors around their small, pale necks before exiting the dorm to meet Jessica in the Common room.

"Good morning," she greeted the boys as they entered the dividing corridor.

"Morning. Are you ready," Charlie asked with an air of excitement about him. He was far more excited to begin taking wizard based classes than either Jessica or Scorpius and he wasn't letting any nerves get in the way of his positive attitude.

If Scorpius had any doubt or worry about the first day of school he didn't let it show and simply approached beside Charlie, greeting, "Hello."

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be," Jessica replied with a tilt of her head. Then she admitted what she would only to them, "I'm a bit nervous actually. I've always hated the first day of school."

"But just a bit, aye," Scorpius questioned. "I'm sure it won't be as bad as you think."

"At least we already know each other," Charlie added, trying to be assuring.

"Maybe. I'm probably just over thinking it," Jessica said as she turned to walk down the dividing hallway and into the bulk of the school.

Then the small group turned to exit the Common room. As he walked, Charlie looked above the entrance, "Have you noticed there are clocks hanging in the school?"

"How else would wizards keep track of time," Scorpius countered, "Besides candles, I mean."

"Well, that's my point. They're obviously not powered by batteries or electricity. And you have other, less modern ways of telling time. Why use clocks and what is making them work?"

"It doesn't matter. They control your life while you're here. They are what get you to your classes and meals on time. Don't question them, just listen to them," Jessica stated as she passed under the door with the magically powered clock that read 7:42.

Charlie thought about what Jessica had said as he followed her out the door. Though it may have been a crude or negative point of view, she was, of course, right. Clocks were in place around the school, in dorms, classrooms, and Common rooms for the students to keep track of time. Because they were so plentiful and in plain sight they would be expected to make it on time to class each day. 'Maybe this won't be so different from school back home,' Charlie silently thought and wondered if Jessica had thought the same.

XXXX

"Good Morning class. My name is Horace Slughorn and I am your Potions Professor," Slughorn began a form of his speech he has undoubtedly given dozens of times to dozens of classes over the span of his unnaturally long career.

Breakfast had passed quickly and soon the three friends were standing in front of two rows of tables in the Potions classroom. The first class of the week, the first class the three young students would be taking their first year, is double Potions. And judging by the un-identical scarves secured around half of the classes necks', it was a class they would be taking with Gryffindor's.

After welcoming the new students, eyeing up a few who would be likely to show potential in his class, Professor Slughorn separated the students into pairs. It was soon noticed that he was separating the class into pairs which held one student from each House and because the class was even it worked well in Slughorn's favor. One could argue that this was part of the teachers plan to promote House unity between the four Houses. Another, especially one who had taken his class, could argue that it was part of Slughorn's personal plan to quickly filter the talented students from those with no hope at all.

Within the first ten minutes of class the students were separated and told to create a replica of the potion printed on page 28 of their text book. Within the next ten minutes the new students were scrambling to collect foreign objects from the large ingredients table at the front of the room and began to prepare their potions.

Slughorn had assigned this task to determine who he can expect to show promise in his class this year. Once he gave instructions he began roaming around the classroom, moving through the pairs of students busily working, only offering advice when it looked as if a potion was going to combust.

Jessica has been paired with a girl with short brown hair and dark brown eyes who was quick to introduce herself in a very happy tone, "Hi, I'm Emily."

Jessica replied with her own name and a smile that she didn't quite mean. 'It's too early to even appear so awake,' Jessica thought to herself as she turned her attention to the front of the room and waited for instructions. After they were given she took it upon herself to gather the ingredients they would need for the potion after finding the correct page.

Jessica carefully read the instructions as she prepared each ingredient. She split the ingredients with Emily and they each worked quietly beside each other, no conversation passed between them other than the occasional questioned that was asked by Emily.

As she worked, Jessica took the time to gaze around the room. It is quiet, aside from the chopping of knives, the clatter of jars, and the low tone of conversation passing between students who are not as concerned with their work as those who are working silently. Slughorn is moving around the room, observing with a critical eye. She can see several students struggling with preparing their ingredients, including Charlie who is standing at the table directly in front of her. But her attention is immediately taken away from him and moved back to Slughorn as he darts to the back of the room. He is quick to save a potion from a careless male student who was previously tossing in ingredients at will which had caused his potion to start bubbling over the lip of the black pot.

She laughs silently to herself before returning to her own potion and adding the first two ingredients into the cauldron that has begun to properly boil, stirring lazily as she again focused on the room at large. On the left side of the room and two tables ahead of herself, Jessica can see Scorpius working diligently beside a blond girl who is too busy staring at his face to focus on her own assortment of ingredients. While laughing, she's talking to her friend behind her over her shoulder, the two girls are giggling at something that Jessica can't hear, but the girl's eyes remain on Scorpius' face.

For the first thirty minutes of class, Scorpius tried to be patient. He offered to gather the ingredients from the front of the room which brought on the first giggle of the class period. He suggested they split the ingredients and the girl just nodded dumbly at him. When he noticed when she didn't reach for her knife, he tried to talk her through how to prepare her first ingredient and she only complimented him on his intelligence and continued to stare at the left side of his face. At some point her friend a table behind her made a mocking comment which caused a conversation to ensue. They never once talked about anything relating to Scorpius after the initial comment her brown haired friend made to gain her attention. Scorpius had hoped that it would cause the girl he is supposed to be working with, Becca he thinks, to lose interest and let him continue his work. Unfortunately she chose to split what little attention she has in half between carrying on the conversation and staring at the side of Scorpius' head.

After the first thirty minutes of class, after giggling and staring and boring conversation beginning passed beside him, he lost all of his patience.

Jessica can see, even from two tables behind him that Scorpius is irritated and concentrating on blocking out the two Gryffindor girls' conversation as much as he is on preparing the potion without any assistance. His face is emotionless, set hard as he carefully prepares each ingredient and adds them to the cauldron in front of him.

Looking almost apologetically towards her friend, Jessica's gaze moved from Scorpius to return to Charlie who is receiving advice from the male Gryffindor beside him at his work station.

It was Charlie who, once in front of his assigned table, had energetically introduced himself, "Hello, I'm Charlie."

"Samuel," the boy with tan colored skin had answered, a bit softer, and shook his hand.

They had each grabbed half a dozen ingredients from the table and began to work. Charlie seemed to struggle while preparing several of the ingredients, but Samuel was kind enough to correct him when he needed to be.

While Jessica worked on her own potion, taking charge and guiding her partner along the way, Professor Slughorn crept over to her table and listened as she gave advice. He then stepped in front of her table and watched her work for a few minutes before giving a nod of approval. "Good work Miss Langer," he whispered positively before moving on to the next table.

As Scorpius worked on the other side of the room, he slowly began to run out of ingredients and began stealing more from Becca's pile. He eventually prepared all of the ingredients on his own and an hour and a half into class, though he was working alone, he finished his potion eleven minutes before any of the pairs of students.

Slughorn studied Scorpius' potion and made several notes on it before declaring, "Brilliant Mr. Malfoy. It's perfect. You should be proud. It seems you have inherited you father's gift. He was my one of my best students while he was in school, you know? I expect great things from you. Well done," he profusely praised loudly for the entire class to hear while completely ignoring the young girl at Scorpius' side.

"Thank you Professor," Scorpius replied with a brilliant smile meant solely for the teacher that didn't meet his eyes. "It means a lot to hear you say that."

"In fact, Mr. Malfoy, I'd like speak with you after class," Slughorn announced as a form of invitation.

"Of course, Professor."

About eleven minutes later and Jessica's potion finished simmering at the same time as one of the girls from her dorm.

"Well done, Miss Langer. Very well done," Slughorn praised the small girl again. "I'd like to speak to you after class as well, if you wouldn't mind staying," he whispered before walking towards the back of the room to examine Jessica's roommate and her partner's potion.

Five minutes before the end of class Charlie called for Professor Slughorn to check his potion. Like many others, his potion was completed successfully, though he and his partner were rather slow which is why they only received a nod of approval.

By the end of class all of the potions were completed successfully, minus three cauldrons that had over boiled due to an improper amount or improper order of added ingredients.

Once Slughorn dismissed the class all of the students gathered their belongings and filed out the door. Scorpius and Jessica stayed to talk to Slughorn and they met Charlie who stood outside the door to wait on them.

"So, he seemed awfully impressed with your work," Charlie began once his friends emerged, "Why did he ask you to stay?"

"He wants us to join his personally run club for students. I believe we've just been collected," Scorpius confessed, wearing a proud look on his face as if the class had gone according to his plan. Jessica had no knowledge of Slughorn's "Slug Club" which he described as a club for gifted students before she entered the class, but it had been a pleasant surprise when he asked her personally to join.

"Sorry, what," Charlie asked, confused.

"I'll tell you later. Time for lunch, yes?"

XXXXXXXXX

"Good afternoon Madam Hooch," the class greeted the flying lessons instructor in unison.

"Good afternoon class. Today we will continue practicing proper takeoff and landing procedure," Madam Hooch barked a form of greeting as she glided through the two parallel lines of student, each standing with a broom lying across the ground to their right.

Monday afternoon during the second week of school, a mixed class of Slytherins and Gryffindors are lined in rows next to the Quidditch Pitch entrance. Madam Hooch walked between the rows of students carrying her personal broomstick with a whistle sitting on her chest.

Once she entered the pitch she told her students to summon the brooms at their sides then spread across the field to begin practicing the procedure.

It took Jessica, Charlie, and Scorpius each a few minutes to call the brooms to their hands, even with this being their third lesson. Then they walked to the side of the pitch that was currently covered in shade by one of the high rising towers were students sat during games. The rest of the large class joined them and formed a large circle around the interior of the field. Jessica, Scorpius, and Charlie each took turns, alternating when each of them would be in the air along with the rest of the class while Madam Hooch mounted her own broom and took to the sky, hovering over the students and giving feedback to those who seemed to need encouragement.

Jessica soon discovered that taking off was easy. Kick the ground hard, almost as if you are mad at it, then let the broom do most of the work. It's landing that's the hard part. The higher the broom, the more difficult the landing. Most students seem too anxious to hover any higher than three feet. Those who decided to guide their brooms any higher come back to earth with an even more unstable landing than before.

Madam Hooch took no notice to Jessica or Scorpius, but she kept an eye on Charlie from a distance. He was the steadiest out of the three friends on a broom and one of the most controlled in the air out of the whole class.

"Your turn Jessica," Scorpius called from the other side of Charlie of stood between them.

This broke Jessica from her thoughts and she smiled to the two boys to her left apologetically before mounting the length of her broom. She kicked off from the ground, a little harder than she has been and not as gracefully as she suspected those who train to fly are capable of doing, this time floating five feet above the grass. She stayed in the air for a while, trying to hold her broom still for a few moments as the boys watched her from the lawn before she floated to the ground dropping from the sky the last foot and stumbling, willing her feet to catch herself.

"A bit high, don't you think," Charlie asked once she regained her footing.

"Higher than you can handle," Jessica shot back, tauntingly.

Charlie grinned, then smirked at the handle in front of him. Throwing his left foot of his own broom, he kicked off the ground and his broom stopped about four feet above the pitch. Then he took control, willing it to rise another three feet.

"I'm sorry. Did you say something," Charlie asked in a mocking tone, looking down at the girl below him.

"Yes, well done," Jessica praised him, not above giving any where it is due. "Now try to land as precisely as I did."

"I'd wager I can do even better," Charlie replied before he returned his attention to the broom in front of him. Guiding the broom handle he lowered himself slowly, creeping down inch by inch. "Huh?"

"Perhaps you have found something you can actually excel at," Scorpius waved a hand at Charlie in a mix of teasing and encouragement.

Charlie looked up quickly to reply which caused him to jerk his broom to float vertically above the ground before it fell five feet to the ground. Resulting in Charlie landing hard on his back.

Jessica and Scorpius approached and leaned over his body, both trying to hide their laughter.

"Are you alright," Jessica questioned him, hiding her smile behind her hand until she regained her composure and dropped it at her side.

"Maybe this isn't for me after all," was the answer he gave as he looked sideways at his obviously concerned companions.

"Here," Scorpius stated as he offered his right hand, still smiling. "Maybe just focus more on the broom and less on your comebacks."

XXXX

The next Friday on the third week of school, Jessica sat between Charlie and Scorpius at a table two rows from the front of the class. On Fridays the three take a class of double-DADA. For the first hour and twenty minutes the class continued with taking notes from their class on Tuesday while Professor Saurmon, a six foot three man with shoulder length white hair who took over the position shortly after the war, prepared for the last forty minutes of class. After three weeks of studying about the multiple breeds of fairies out of their textbooks, the Professor, promised and agreed to bring in a live breed for the class to examine before their first test of the school year next week.

"May I have your attention class? Good. Now, as you may recall, last week I promised to bring in a live specimen to aid you in your studies on fairies. I am a man of my word. So, if I may, I'd like to present to you all," the Professor stated in a loud voice that rumbled like thunder through the space of the room, "Elwood fairies."

The professor unveiled a large cage steel cage resting on his desk which inside held six small glowing lights of yellow. They each moved independently and would random float and hit a side of the cage, as if they were trying to pass through the bars and none of them were able.

All of the students leaned forward in their seats and upon closer inspection, were able to make out the forms of women. Each light glowed around the form of a small women no taller than three inches. The Professor lifted the cage from the surface of his desk and walked around the room for each of the children to see, instructing them to open their books to page 71. What he instructed them next once he returned to his desk shocked them from their trance of the magical creatures.

"Now class, as we have learned these fairies, if threatened, can become a threat themselves. I would like several of you to volunteer and step in front of the class to cast the defense spells that we've been studying to protect yourself against them."

Two male Gryffindors who sat in the back of the room immediately ran to the front of the class and were each instructed to perform a different spell from their textbooks in demonstration for the rest of the class. One of them, the shorter and pudgier of the two with dark hair, was successfully able to extract a single fairy from its cage without having the others escape. His friend, a slightly taller boy with red, curly hair and many freckles who stood beside him raised his wand towards the fairy once it was free and was able to momentarily stun the small creature. The fairy dropped out of the air and hit the ground completely unharmed, but would soon recover. Once they received feedback from the Professor they calmly returned to their seats at the back of the room, seemingly pleased with their joint efforts. Soon a timid looking Slytherin girl with black hair that matched the frames of her glasses followed. A moment later, she sent two bright forms floating paralyzed above the student tables.

Jessica remained quiet as she watched other students take turns using defense spells against the mystical creatures. She had no urge to step in front of the class, she was happy to remain in her seat and watch others as they worked. She also read through the passage in her book and was reminded that Elwood fairies are the smallest breed of fairy and they are often found in the presence or company of Leprechauns. After only a moment's thought she found this to be a hilarious coincidence. Then she had an idea.

"Hey Charlie," Jessica whispered to the young boy on her left that was watching the fairies with intense interest. "Why don't you give it a try?"

"Oh, I've no interest to. I'd rather watch to be honest," Charlie admitted. He'd rather not embarrass himself in front of the class as one of the other Slytherin boys had done when he was unable to properly cast his spell which nearly resulted in a fairy fleeing through an open window.

"I have a feeling you can do this," Jessica stated with encouragement. Then added, "Oh, come on. 'You fight those fairies.'"

Charlie smiled brightly as he instantly recognized the certain catch phrase and deep tone of voice the young girl tried to imitate. It caused Charlie to rise from his chair and trail to the front of the room.

"Thank you for volunteering Mr. Lester. Now I would like you to perform the charm 'Stupefy' to stun the fairy once I pull it from the cage. Remember to speak clearly as you do," The professor instructed calmly before he faced the cage and used a spell to summon one of the fairies and have it pass easily through the bars. Then Charlie raised his wand toward the creature and followed it around the room for a short moment as it flew before he hit it with his charm dead on. The small ball of light dropped out of the sky and the Professor returned it to its cage while Charlie walked back to his chair. Scorpius hadn't taken his eyes off of the book that was open in front of him the entire class, but lifted his head long enough to nod in approval towards his friend. Jessica on the other hand smiled kindly as he came to rest in his chair once more.

"I fought the fairies," Charlie exclaimed quietly, excitement written on his face.

"Wait to go Winchester."


End file.
